The Chronicles of The Balaur
by The Oracle
Summary: Chapter V of "Eyes of The Seraphim" is now up. Cera finds her life now intertwined with the Progenitor's cause in a very real way. Rated M for Bloody violence and some strong language. Please R
1. Prologue: Expulsion

Some of you who have read "Brotherhood of The Seed" and "The Path of Heaven" may be wondering why I'm doing this. Well, I've looked back at those stories, and wasn't really pleased with how they've turned out so far. There were too many protagonists, too many side-stories, too many cooks spoiling the soup basically. I may even take the stories off and archive them so people can focus more on this one.

I wanted to start over from scratch, using a couple of things I've used in the past, and tweaking them a little. I outlined this story in advance, so I don't go off into too many tangents. I also must warn you that this one is going to be much more brutal and gory, so younger readers beware.

This one mainly uses characters from Kamen Riders Agito and ZO, as well as LBT characters. There's also just a hint of The Incredible Hulk in it. I own none of the rights to these characters, and have no intention of making money off this story.

Enjoy!

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Shorty called out suddenly, bolting up from his sleep as he panted quickly from where he had just been sleeping a moment ago. This prompted a response from Bron, who was also awakened by the sound.

"Shorty?" he groggily called his adopted son's name. "What's wrong?"

Shorty sighed and just shook his head. "Nothing…"

"Bad dreams again?" Bron asked him, sympathetically.

Shorty just nodded slowly in response.

"You sure you don't wanna talk about them?"

Shorty slowly looked up into his eyes. "I wouldn't know what to tell you if I tried. I can't understand what they're about at all…all I know is I keep seeing this…thing. Whatever it is, it's the scariest thing I've ever encountered."

"Well, you know it's not real, whatever it is…" Bron answered him, reassuringly. "So take it out of your mind…and try to think about something else, something pleasant, so you'll sleep."

Shorty nodded slowly, and settled back down into his sleeping spot. He took Bron's advice, and started thinking about anything that was pleasant…not an easy task for someone who never had an easy life, never knew his mother or father…until he met Bron.

That was it…he focused on Bron, and the subsequent meeting with his son, Littlefoot, as well as all of his friends. He smiled as he began to drift off once more, thinking of one of the few comforts he had in this world…few, but plenty for him, as he hoped he would be meeting them all again soon.

But as his nightmares would foretell, that simply wasn't in the cards for him…

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It was daytime now. In the meadow, among the other longnecks, a lone adult female walked slowly apart from the others. She moved past a few older longnecks, seemingly in search of one in particular. She looked to her left and right, before seeing a familiar face, helping himself to some tree-stars.

"Heya Shorty…" She smiled as she approached the teen longneck.

"Hm?" he looked up for a moment, and then smiled. "Oh…hey Mika."

"You wouldn't happen to know where Bron is right now, do you?" She asked him, innocently.

"Hmmm…" Shorty thought to himself as he chewed. "I think he's over near that pond, right behind those trees to the right of you." He motioned in the right direction with his head.

"Thanks, Shorty." Mika smiled to him as she walked off, leaving him to eat.

Shorty slowly began to think to himself as he ate…she had been seeing Bron quite a bit ever since she first joined up with the herd at his permission. He then wondered what Bron thought of her coming to see him so much. Usually he didn't like to be bothered too much by someone he didn't really like…could it be? Was Bron developing a kind of fondness for this female?

He didn't have much more time to think on this, however, as he suddenly heard one of the other longnecks shout "Redclaw! Redclaw!"

Shorty shot straight to attention, as the older, but still dangerous T-rex, and his two raptor allies, came rushing into the meadow, snarling and roaring. His body bore a few scars from past fights in the recent years, and his teeth were a little dirty, but still as sharp as ever, his two friends terrorizing the other longnecks.

Shorty acted quickly, not wanting Bron to have to face Redclaw right now, as he ran straight out into his path. "Hey! Remember me, bonehead?" He yelled, making the T-Rex remember his past encounters with him and his great valley friends in the past.

Redclaw took one look at Shorty, and snarled loudly, roaring as he took off after the young longneck that dared to insult him. Shorty ran far ahead of him on all fours, trying to find a way to lose him for the moment.

He darted past a few trees, trying to hide behind them…no good, as Redclaw spotted him right away. He ran past a few more trees, and hopped over some rocks in what looked like a big quarry. He looked back and saw Redclaw hopping easily over the same big rocks, as he continued his pursuit into the rocky area.

Shorty ran around what he thought would be a quick corner leading him back to the forest…instead finding a big rock wall right in front of him. He was cornered, and about to be confronted and eaten by the angry Redclaw…he had to think quickly…he then tried to run away from the wall as fast as he could.

He then felt a big pair of jaws SLAM down onto his back.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Shorty screamed, as Redclaw had managed to grab a hold of him in his teeth. He lifted Shorty off the ground, and tried to chomp down hard to finish him…discovering that he was having a hard time of it for some reason.

That bite, Redclaw would discover, had set something off inside of Shorty…something very bizarre. His eyes had suddenly changed completely red, blood red. His teeth started to get sharper as his muscles began to bulge and grow under his flesh. It grew so much, that the force ended up breaking off two of Redclaws teeth, making the T-Rex growl in pain as he finally dropped Shorty.

The young longneck continued to growl and shake his head all around, as his overall form changed…he painfully raised himself onto his hindlegs as his forelegs slowly took the shape of arms…immense green arms with sharp claws at the end of each finger. His tail stayed intact as he then looked up to the sky, slender horns growing out of his forehead and resting back on his head as he roared out to the sky in a shrill, menacing voice.

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Redclaw now looked down to see something…quite different from the usual longneck. His face (for the most part) and his skin color were intact, but were now part of a strong, glistening wet body, the new creature a biomechanical horror, with traces of metal in his body that weren't quite evident…yet.

The creature roared at Redclaw, who gladly returned the roar. This thing was still smaller than he was…what possible damage could he do?

The answer to that quickly came, when the creature suddenly sprung off the ground on his powerful legs, and grabbed onto Redclaw's muzzle with his arms, growling as he bit into the flesh, drawing blood.

Redclaw roared out in pain, shaking his head violently. The creature simply stayed latched on, not being shaken off at all as he chomped down for as long as he pleased. Redclaw finally found the rock wall, and threw his head against it, bashing the creature into it. The creature finally let go, and growled as it dropped onto the ground.

Redclaw took advantage as he lunged down, forcing the creature to block with his left arm as he chomped down onto it…again, having trouble tearing the limb from the body.

The creature roared again, in frustration, as slits suddenly opened up in his wrists. Two long steel blades shot out of these openings, as the creature then brought the right blade under Redclaws head…and promptly shoved it in straight up, impaling him through the lower jaw.

Redclaw almost screamed as he roared in pain, pulling back as the creature withdrew the blade, stained with blood. He then roared out in frustration, his bloody maw moving down to chomp at the creature again. This time, the creature grabbed his muzzle with his left arm, and powerfully slammed his head against the rock wall with it. He then quickly lunged over with his right arm at the ready, and roared as he plunged the blade right into Redclaw's left eye.

Blood gushed out of where the eye had been, as Redclaw shrieked in agony, roaring and shaking his head around some more as the creature pulled out the blade and walked back. The now visually impaired T-Rex stumbled along the quarry, as he knew he was defeated now, using his one good eye to find a way out of the area.

The creature was now slowly calming down, as he then collapsed back on all fours, and felt his body slowly begin to reverse the dramatic change that he had experienced, his form shaking and grunting. In a matter of seconds he was Shorty once again.

"Shorty?" He heard Bron's voice calling to him now, as the Male Longneck entered the area, not knowing what had just occurred. "Shorty, what's going on? Are you ok? Where's Redclaw?"

"He's gone…" Shorty simply responded, standing back up fully.

"Well what happened?" Bron asked as he looked around the quarry. "There's an awful lot of blood around here…"

"Yeah, he hurt himself pretty good this time." Shorty smiled a bit, trying to keep a brave face. "I got him to trip on a big rock over there, and he smashed his face into the wall over there…I think a sharp rock got him right in the eye."

Bron winced a bit as he heard this, but nodded. "Well…serves the bastard right." He chuckled a little. "Come on back, Shorty…the rest of us already chased off his two fast-biter cronies…and Mika just found some sweet bubbles too."

"Oh nice…" Shorty smiled. "I'll be right with you…"

Bron nodded softly and walked off…leaving Shorty to contemplate what had just occurred. He looked down over himself with genuine fear and distress in his eyes.

"What…the hell…just happened…" He said out loud, before thinking to himself. "That can't have been real….but I see all this blood from what I did…" He then sighed to himself as he began to walk off.

"I just hope I can keep control of whatever it was, so Bron never sees it…"

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Later that day, just as the sun was setting, Shorty, Bron, and Mika, were all enjoying some food. Shorty looked at the two, who were smiling at each other every so often, and couldn't help but ask at this point.

"Hey Mika?" He spoke up. "Sorry if I'm being nosy…but I noticed you've been hanging around with Bron and me a lot lately"

Bron just ate, as Mika chuckled a little and tilted her head. "What's wrong with that? Does it get on your nerves?"

"Oh, no, no…" Shorty shook his head slowly. "I was just wondering…Why only us? I don't really see you with too many others in the herd."

Mika looked over to Bron, wondering what to say. Bron just swallowed his food, and took over from there, looking down at his adopted son.

"Shorty…I guess we sort of left you out of the loop on this, but…well, Mika and I have developed a bit of a…fondness for each other ever since she joined us."

Shorty had to think about this for a second, but the realization came to him like a light going on his head. "I see…" He immediately thought of something else. "Are you making plans to tell Littlefoot about you and her soon? I think he's got a right to know."

"That is the hardest part of all this." Bron nodded slowly. "I guess I have been hesitating a bit…I mean, he loved his mother, and he never even met me for years. I can't imagine this is going to sit well with him. And I haven't even considered his grandparents…her parents."

"You should still tell them…" Shorty spoke again before eating a few more leaves.

"He's right." Mika nodded slowly. "As uncomfortable they may be with this at first, they'll really resent you if you hide this all from them."

Shorty continued to eat…until he suddenly felt something…something off…

He slowly raised his head, as the uneasy continued to fill him. He didn't know what was causing it…but it was there…and it seemed to be telling him something.

"Shorty…" Bron looked down at him. "What's up?"

Shorty just stood there, paying attention to this new sensation…it seemed to be telling him that there was something near him…something malevolent…and it was approaching…right…behind him.

"SHORTY!" Bron suddenly shouted, spotting it just in time. Shorty moved quickly out of the way as the two raptors, Redclaw's cronies, lunged towards him at the same time, narrowly missing.

Bron and Mika both quickly backed away, looking down and seeing that the raptors had no interest in either of them…they wanted the one that had attacked their leader…that had injured and humiliated him. Redclaw was ripe with Shorty's scent when they found him stumbling around in the forest, and were able to use that to find the longneck. They looked at each other, puzzled as to how this teen longneck could do that to their ally…but the scent was an exact match, so they continued to approach him.

"Please…" Shorty shook his head as he backed away. "Please don't attack me…" he said what he did, not out of fear for his life, but because of what he knew would happen now if he became as enraged as he did when Redclaw bit down on him.

Bron immediately took action, and swung out his tail to take down the raptors. He only managed to hit one, knocking it across the meadow, as the other one was able to stay in pursuit of Shorty.

Shorty continued to run, looking back and seeing the raptor quickly catching up, as he tried to find a place to hide…any place at all. He wasn't having much luck with it.

His time ran out, and no other longneck in the area was able to catch the raptor, as it suddenly sprung into the air, and caught Shorty in its claws, rolling with him into some bushes as it attempted to finish him off.

"SHORTY! NO!" Bron shouted again, looking on with a very concerned Mika at his side. The other raptor quickly got up, and ran over to the sight of the rustling bushes. It hoped that its partner had saved some of the longneck for its own dinner.

It then suddenly stopped as it heard a loud "GRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" followed by the pained squealing of the attacking raptor…seconds later, the lifeless, bloody body of the raptor flew out from the bushes and landed right in front of its partner, its throat and belly slashed wide open.

Everyone watching was frozen in horror now, as the creature slowly stepped out from behind the bushes, the blades on its wrists already out as they dripped with blood. He then eyed the other raptor, and held out its fists, roaring angrily into the air.

The raptor wanted to run at first, but it then looked at the broken body of its longtime friend, and roared back, wanting revenge. It then leapt at the creature, its own claws fully extracted as it came down and slashed at him.

The creature moved quickly, the claws cutting a bit into his body as some greenish blood leaked out. It didn't bother him though, as he knocked the raptor away with a hard sidekick to the jaw.

The raptor flew a few feet along the ground, before it got back up and growled at him again. The creature then roared back at him, and showed off its own jumping abilities, leaping high into the air on his strong legs.

The raptor didn't have time to get out of the way, as the creature pounced right onto it, and sunk his sharp teeth right into its shoulder. The raptor squealed and growled as blood seeped out from the wound.

The creature then let go with his powerful jaws, through with playing as he readied the blade on his right arm, and waited for the raptor to get back onto its feet. The raptor struggled a bit, bleeding profusely from the shoulder as it quickly tried to think of a new maneuver.

Before it could even get a thought moving, however, the creature reared back and swung hard with his blade…decapitating the predator.

Bron watched in shock with everyone else, as the raptor's headless body slumped forward onto the ground, the blood now staining the grass as the creature looked up to the sky, and roared out victoriously.

It was in that moment, that Bron suddenly saw something familiar in those crimson eyes.

"Shorty…"

The creature heard him speak, as he looked over to him…quickly remembering himself. Within a matter of seconds, he calmed down and changed, becoming his original self right there, in front of his whole herd, who had gathered to watch the gruesome scene. Shorty slowly lowered his head, in shame.

"Shorty…" Bron spoke again, trying to make sense out of this whole mess. "How…"

"How could you let such a dangerous thing live with us?" One of the longnecks suddenly spoke up, interrupting him.

"Now wait just a minute…" Bron tried to calm things down, but to no avail.

"You saw how he bit that sharptooth! You saw his teeth!" Another longneck spoke up. "What's to stop him from doing that to one of us, huh? What if he gets a craving?"

"Please…" Shorty spoke with a distressed look on his face. "I don't know how it happened, really!" Bron once again tried to speak up, but once again was interrupted. The hysteria was too much for even him to control.

"Get out of here!" Another longneck spoke out, making Shorty back off as he got right in his face. "We don't want you in this herd anymore!"

"Please…" Shorty begged as he backed off. "I'll be good, really…just give me a chance…"

"Get out!" One other longneck yelled, smacking him across the meadow with his powerful tail.

Shorty landed hard as he looked up at the angry herd that had just shunned him…he felt the anger growing in him again, and the creature inside him once more trying to surface…but that anger was soon overcome by guilt and sadness this time…

Tears had begun to well up in Shorty's eyes as he turned and ran from the herd.

"Shorty! Wait!" Mika called out to him, as Bron still tried to calm everyone else down…but it was too late.

The night sky had now come out over the land, as Shorty made his way into the wilderness alone. He stopped for a moment and lowered his head. More tears flowed as the realization hit him…he was now without Bron, the only one who had ever shown any caring and love towards him…and he knew he could never see his friends again…not like this.

But Shorty was never the type to cry about something forever. He knew that this thing, whatever it was, was his new reality…and like it or not, he had to come to grips with it…learn to deal with it, in his own way.

He soon regained his composure, and looked up over the world he would now travel, alone. With that, he took a drink of water from a nearby pond, and slowly walked away…away from the life he had known until this point, and back into a life of solitude

He had done it before…he could do it again. He could do it forever if he had to…


	2. The Pursuit

The night had fallen over a part of the land further away from Shorty…a field of festering swamps filled with all manner of insects and tiny reptiles, all scavenging for food, as steam rose from the murky waters.

The tranquility of the evening in this swamp was soon interrupted, by the sight of a strange glow, which had suddenly come over one deep section of this swamp. An odd buzzing noise came from the area as well, as the water began to bubble a bit.

Frogs and insects that were in the area quickly scattered, as the form of a big-clawed hand suddenly rose from the water. It reached over and grabbed a rock, as a second hand rose as well, grabbing another rock as the body these hands were attached to pulled itself up.

The form of a grotesque, menacing creature soon made its full appearance, water and mud sliding off his body as he breathed audibly in a deep, menacing voice. He looked reptilian…but he looked insectoid as well, the species indistinguishable from anything on this planet. His bony tail swished from left to right as he observed his surroundings.

Two large purple eyes gazed out in the distance, as a short, reptilian muzzle protruded slightly from his face. Something else seemed to protrude from the lips of the creature, which turned out to be two insect-like mandibles, currently closed together. The glowing red tip of what looked like a laser weapon suddenly pushed out from his forehead, before going back in slowly.

The new creature just breathed, as he looked ahead, his own purple eyes staying still as they blinked gray from inside the lenses. He then used circuits in its biomechanical brain to send a message:

TALOS ONLINE

REQUESTING INSTRUCTIONS…

He stood still as a computerized display came up within its eyes, showing the form of what looked like a longneck drawn in computerized vector graphics.

EXPERIMENT #923

PLANET: EARTH

LOCATION: CURRENTLY UNKNOWN

SUBJECT STATUS: PHASE ONE COMPLETE. MATURATION ACHIEVED.

ORDERS: EXPERIMENT MEETS STANDARDS OF QUALITY. LOCATE, AND SUBDUE ON SITE.

With that, Talos then growled, opening his maw, as the two mandibles attached to the sides spread out, the sound an unholy and frightening roar coming out. More creatures spread in the area to make way for this being, as he began to tromp through the muddy waters.

His large, clawed feet splashed strongly with each step, as he made his way out of the swamp slowly, taking his time as he breathed in an ever-present soft, growling noise.

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Shorty carefully stepped onto the hot, rocky ground below him, the area below him glowing a bright red as he cautiously made his way through.

He had decided that he was going to find the one area that was close to the "Big Water"…a place that Littlefoot had told him about so many times before. He remembered the island, the reuniting with Chomper, even when they met their older friend Elsie, who had helped them back to the mainland.

It sounded like a good source for food, and there probably weren't many other dinosaurs around at the moment. There was no way he was going to attempt entering the great valley, and expose everyone to his…little problem.

There was only one catch to his travel plan…the only way to get to the Big Water from where his former herd had gone, was to cut directly through the mountains that burned. It was risky, but considering what he had just been through, it was no worse than the risk of what might happen if he tried to go back to the herd and reason with them.

Shorty walked through a naturally formed bridge of sorts, made of dark rocks. The lava bubbled below him as he carefully walked through the part that curved downward, smoke rising near him in a few spots. He strained his eyes, trying to get a good look at what lie ahead.

It wasn't too encouraging, as he looked up to see a collection of big rocks sitting on a big pool of lava, with more rocky land straight across from it. He tried to locate another way around, but there was none available to him from this position. The only way across was to carefully hop from rock to rock, he determined.

He measured the distance with one of his front feet from the end of the bridge to the rock. He determined it was jumpable with a nod, and carefully readied himself. He sprung off his feet and landed on the first rock, stumbling just a little.

Shorty took a moment to steady his body, before measuring distance to the next close rock. He found a jumpable rock, took a deep breath, and leapt.

The landing was near flawless this time, as he only needed a second afterward to steady himself. He found one other rock, a little further away, but close to the other side. He was confident he could make the jump, however.

He took another moment, looked at the rock, and took another deep breath…before jumping much further than he had previously.

He sailed onto the rock with more grace than usual, before discovering that this last rock wasn't quite stable on the lava. It shifted a bit as he landed, making lava rush up around him. He acted quickly and jumped towards the other side, but not before some hot lava came into contact with his tail.

"AAAAH!" Shorty yelled in pain as he landed on the other side and tumbled onto his back. The pain in his tail was incredible as it smoked, making him yell out in agony and frustration…it also soon made his eyes turn red.

The change was quick this time, as Shorty reared up onto his hind legs, his front legs shifting into his arms as his sharp teeth returned, and his body bulked up, becoming that of the creature once more.

"GRAAAAHHH!" The creature growled wildly, quickly extracting the blades on his wrists. He slashed at the air a few times, before quickly realizing there was nothing for him to fight, or kill.

He turned and observed his surroundings as he growled, the adrenaline still rushing through him. Somehow, he began to remember…remember that he was heading somewhere…as if the thoughts of his other self were reaching him, through some kind of instinct.

The creature turned to the direction Shorty had been heading towards, and growled as he retracted the blades into his arms. He then used his strong legs to make an INCREDIBLE leap into the air, covering many, many meters with a single jump.

By the time the creature landed, he had already nearly left the area of the mountains that burned, his knees bent as he squatted. Without looking back, he jumped into high into the sky once more, almost vanishing into the dark clouds.

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Bron stood at the edge of the land his herd occupied, looking out into the distance. Ever since Shorty was run out, he could think of nothing other than where his adopted son might be…and what he was getting himself into.

He had wanted nothing more than to chastise his herd for what they had done…but he also didn't want to stir up any potential dissent, especially not over something that he, himself, could not completely understand.

"You could just go out and look for him…" He suddenly heard a voice call out from behind him. He turned to see Mika walking towards him. "There are plenty of other longnecks here who could watch over everything in your place."

Bron slowly shook his head. "No…I can't." He lowered his head slowly. "Don't get me wrong, I really want to…but if I abandon my leadership of this herd to find someone they're afraid of right now, I'll be shunned just like him…and I don't want to do that to him, to Littlefoot, or to you."

Mika nodded slowly, looking to him sympathetically. "Maybe someday, everyone's fears will diminish, he'll come back, and they'll all be prepared to accept him."

Bron sighed a bit, remembering the manner in which Shorty was expelled, but nodded slowly. "Well…it's always good to hope, I suppose." He then looked out to the distance once more.

"The cold times aren't far off now…" He spoke softly. "I hope he can find some way to survive out there."

Mika nodded softly. "I'm sure he will, Bron…" She leaned over and nuzzled him, comfortingly.

Bron returned the gesture, before remembering he still had a herd to lead. He took one last look at the distance, before turning his back, and moving on.

"Take care, Shorty…"

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Talos tromped slowly along the ground, the swamp now far behind him as he made even more local life forms scatter at his presence. He took his time as breathed lowly and softly, knowing that patience was the key to locating this experiment.

He stood still, taking a minute to look around in the forest he was now in. He sensed something that had been moving and following him for quite some time, standing perfectly still, and prepared.

He wasn't shocked at all, as a raptor suddenly leapt at him from the trees. He then reached out, and grabbed the creature by the throat before it could fully strike.

The raptor hissed and slashed at him with its claws, as Talos just tilted his head and scanned the creature with his purple eyes.

ORGANISM ID: INDEGENOUS TERRAN CREATURE: VELOCIRAPTOR

COMMAND: SCAN FOR ATYPICAL DNA

SCANNING…

SCAN RESULT: NEGATIVE

Talos then growled as he easily tossed the raptor aside. The dinosaur got back on its feet and hissed at him, not wanting to lose its target. Talos sensed the hostility, as he simply turned and fired the laser beam from his forehead.

The raptor had little time to react, as the shot quickly ripped through its forehead, splattering blood and its brains on the grass and rocks behind it. The raptor then collapsed onto the ground, lifeless, with a big gaping hole through the head, as a few small mammals came out to examine the corpse.

Talos was already walking away from the scene; the killing of no consequence to him, as finding the experiment was his only goal.

Moments later, his search would end, as something suddenly jumped out into the air, within his view. He quickly captured the image of the leaping creature, before scanning it in his head.

COMMAND: SCAN IMAGE FOR ATYPICAL DNA

SCANNING…

SCAN RESULT: ATYPICAL DNA DETECTED. IMAGE CONFIRMED AS EXPERIMENT #923

ORDERS: SUBDUE AND CAPTURE. DO NOT DESTROY.

Talos growled loudly, its mandibles spreading with its mouth once more, as it readied the laser blaster on its forehead, waiting…

Shorty leapt from out of the trees, still in the form of the creature as he looked down at his next landing spot…only to feel something strike him hard on the side.

The creature growled out in pain as he fell short of his landing. He tumbled down through the trees, landing hard on his front.

Talos immediately made his move after firing his head laser, and performed his own impressive jump in order to reach where the creature had fallen. He landed with an impressive thump on his two feet, as some downed leaves flew up around him.

The creature grunted and pulled himself up a little, finding a bleeding wound on his side. The flow of greenish blood didn't last long, though, as he felt his accelerated healing coming into play, the wound soon closing up.

He then looked over to see Talos slowly advancing on him, the gaze of his purple eyes fixated on his form. He got up and roared in anger as he extracted his blades once more, launching himself towards his attacker.

Talos was not an ordinary sharptooth, however, as the creature would soon find out. He reached out and grabbed his right arm, stepping aside to avoid the blades masterfully. He then leaned in and thumped the creature hard in the stomach with his right fist, before throwing him into a small pond nearby.

The creature splashed and tumbled along the shallow water as he was thrown into it, dazed as he was on his stomach, his head right over a rock jutting up from the surface. He turned his head a bit, just as Talos tromped over to him in the water, and stomped on his head, driving his cheek right into the sharp edge.

The creature almost screeched in pain as the rock punctured him. He pulled back as greenish blood spurted from his cheek, before the wound began to quickly heal once more.

At this moment, Talos reached down and grabbed the creature by the throat, slowly lifting him up and growling loudly in his deep voice. He tightened his grip, trying to make him lose consciousness so he'd be all ready for the next phase.

The creature choked loudly and flailed at Talos, his mouth wide open as he tried to find a way to hurt him. He slashed at his arm, causing some of Talos' own greenish blood to ooze out, but Talos was unfazed, still keeping a firm hold.

The creature sputtered and choked a little more, slowly feeling himself losing consciousness…

Then, something suddenly came down from the sky, and got right into Talos' face. It looked like wasp, but it was a little bit larger, and it had a metal stinger on its tail end.

It jabbed Talos multiple times in the head, causing Talos to try and swipe at it with his free hand. This made him begin to loosen his grip on the creature, not a whole lot, but enough to make a difference.

The creature regained full consciousness, and was able to angle himself in just the right way. He then brought up his right arm, and jammed the blade right into Talos' belly.

More green blood leaked out as Talos growled loudly, and in pain. The creature then pulled the blade out, and used his right foot to kick Talos in the chest, sending him backwards into the shallow water.

The creature then angrily picked up a boulder nearby with tremendous strength. He walked over to where Talos was lying, dazed, and roared out one last time. He then brought the boulder down hard on top of his head face first.

Water splashed as the boulder slammed down onto the attacker's head, crushing it audibly as green blood mixed with the water now. Talos' arms and legs flailed wildly, before settling down and trembling, then going still.

The creature panted steadily now, as all the exertion had tired him. He walked to the edge of the pond and collapsed onto his side, slowly changing back into what he once was…

Shorty panted even harder now, coughing a bit, as he still felt the pressure from Talos' chokehold. He looked to his left and right, remembering only bits and pieces of what had happened for the moment. He looked at the apparently dead monster before him, marveling at what he had just managed to do with his own hands.

He then heard a buzzing noise, as he looked up and saw the same large wasp from before. It landed a few feet from him, and looked him straight into the eyes.

"You need to get out of here…" he suddenly heard a female voice speak.

"Who said that?" Shorty quickly jerked his head around, alarmed.

"There's no time to explain right now…" he heard the voice again. "That creature wants to do very bad things to you."

"But…" Shorty looked over at the downed Talos. "It's dead. I killed it."

"I'm afraid not." The voice spoke again, as he saw Talos' hand tremble a little. "You have only stalled him."

Shorty blinked at the quivering hand, as he then saw the wasp suddenly turn and take off. "Follow me! Come quickly!"

He then nodded and got back up quickly. The idea of following a wasp was strange, but at the same time, he wanted to be nowhere near this thing when he got back up.

The wasp was now flying towards a very misty area, as Shorty followed it, and disappeared into the trees…safe, for now.


	3. Horrible Truths

Talos' body writhed more actively now, as his head remained pinned under the large rock. The parts of his crushed head began to glow suddenly, as his hands soon gained stability, and reached over to grip the sides of the rock.

His head and face regenerated slowly beneath the water, the water bubbled with his muffled growling, causing bugs nearby to fly away quickly.

His hands slowly began to lift the rock away, as the parts of his face slowly began to grow back beneath it. Within moments, he had lifted the rock a good distance from his face, before he finally tossed it aside with a splash.

Talos sat up slowly in the water, as he then got up onto his feet. The water sloshed around his legs as he looked to both sides with slow turns of his head. He had lost his target.

But Talos was a very patient creature, and this was hardly the first time an experiment had ever been this difficult to capture. He didn't panic, and he didn't complain, staying silent as usual. He knew that he would acquire his target, sooner or later…he always did.

His body glistened wetly as he walked out of the pond, the ever-present deep breath resounding from his menacing maw.

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"Ok…ok…" Shorty panted just a little as he fled into the misty woods with this mysterious wasp. "I think we lost whatever that thing was…so why don't we stop for a minute?"

The wasp flew above him as he took a moment to stop and catch his breath, lowering his head. After he beat the creature that was after him, and the wasp led him into the mists, he felt like he could have run forever. But now, the shock was wearing off, his heart was slowing down, and he was now remembering his physical limitations…in his current form, anyway.

"I was wondering when you would finally stop…" the wasp responded, as Shorty heard its feminine voice in his head once more. "I was going to tell you multiple times that we were at a safe distance…but every time I tried to get close to you, you'd just run faster…"

Shorty panted as he responded. "Sorry…just instinct I guess…I don't like the idea of a flying stinger coming that close to me."

"Really?" The wasp responded. "After I just saved your life from something much worse than any insect I've seen on this world…you really think I would sting you after doing that? Some friend I would be…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Shorty jerked up his head as he heard this, finally catching his breath. "I just met you, so don't be calling yourself a friend of mine so quickly…I don't even know who you are, or why I can even hear you talking…as far as I remember, flying stingers don't talk at all."

The wasp set down on the ground near Shorty, before it responded. "That is because I am not truly of your world."

"I don't understand…" Shorty furrowed his brow.

The wasp flew up and circled around the sky. "This is going to be hard for a creature like you to understand…but the sky is not the limit to your world. This world is merely part of a vast universe, and many of the stars you see at night are other homes to other beings, which are far, far away from this one."

Shorty's eyes widened at this revelation, looking up at the sky where the wasp circled. He would have debated this idea, but the existence of the creature he turned into, and the other creature he had fought were evidence enough. "Wow…and that's where you come from?"

"Correct." The wasp flew back down onto the grass, closer to Shorty. "I am called RITA: Robitic Interpersonal Tactical Assistant, and I have been sent to this world to watch over and help you."

"Who sent you?" Shorty asked, curiously.

"I am not at liberty to tell you…" Rita answered. "They prefer to be known only as the 'helping hands'."

Shorty nodded slowly, before thinking of another question. "How long have you been here, watching me?"

"Ever since you arrived in this world." Rita responded, simply.

"You mean since I was born?" Shorty's eyes shot wide open, as he walked closer to Rita now. "That must mean you knew who my parents were, right?"

Rita didn't answer…

"C'mon…" Shorty got a little impatient. "You must have known them, if you were watching me that long. I can't remember them at all, and I can't find anyone who knows about them. Tell me, please!"

Rita waited another moment, almost hesitating, before answering. "Shorty, I don't know how to say this to you…"

"Say what to me?" His face got closer to Rita's now. "What?"

"You have no parents…" Rita responded.

Shorty froze as he was hit with this information, not quite understanding, as he lifted his head back up, away from Rita. "That doesn't make sense…Bron told me it takes a mother and a father to make a baby dinosaur."

"Not always, Shorty…" Rita responded. "Sometimes, on other worlds, creatures are engineered…"

"Engineered?" Shorty looked down at Rita again, the term very alien to someone like him.

"Created by a single being, for a specific purpose…" Rita answered. "The truth of your existence, Shorty, is that you are an experiment. You were created by a being that calls itself 'The Progenitor'."

Couldn't believe what he was hearing. He started to get angry, as he shook his head. "I don't believe you…it can't be true…I have to have parents…it can't be true!"

"Shorty, get a hold of yourself!" Rita spoke to him firmly. "You know what happens now, when you lose your temper. Calm down, so I can tell you the rest. "

Shorty panted a bit as gritted his teeth…his eyes turned red for a moment, but he soon suppressed the urge, calming down so he could hear the rest of what Rita had to say. "Ok…I'll listen…why don't you start by telling me what this Progenitor thing is?"

"Very well…I can tell you what I know…the Progenitor is an intelligent creature from another world, who can use his vast knowledge of DNA and genetic engineering to create his own new species, by assembling pieces from existing ones."

"Am I to understand any of that?" Shorty furrowed his brow.

"I'm doing my best…I was never originally designed to inform a creature like yourself…basically, The Progenitor can create living things all by himself, and you're one of the things he created….you were given your initial form, and placed on Earth to mix in with everyone else, until your alien genes finally matured."

"Alien?" Shorty gave her a weird look.

"Yes…in addition to your 'longneck' genes, you were also given the genes of many other species through this universe, mixed together. And now they have activated inside of you, giving you your new form."

"This is too much…" Shorty lowered his head.

"That's not all, I'm afraid…The Progenitor has likely judged you as a successful experiment, so he has sent his creation, Talos, to retrieve you…your form is to be copied numerous times, and added to his growing army."

"What happens to me then?" Shorty was scared to ask.

"In most cases, the experiment is considered weaker than the clones to be made, so it is often killed."

"What?" Shorty's head shot right back up. "What happens to the failures, then?"

"The Failures are simply killed." Rita responded flatly.

Shorty walked closer to the wasp. "So you're saying I'm dead either way…"

"Fear not…" Rita responded. "The main reason The Progenitor sent Talos after you, is that the helping hands are here now…they have constructed a device that keeps The Progenitor from creating a direct mind-link with you. Without it, The Progenitor would have been able to steer you right towards him by placing orders in your brain."

"The helping hands are here?" Shorty asked. "Then why don't they come out themselves?"

"Unfortunately, the only way they can keep the device working properly is to stay exactly where they are. They have set the spot as a rendezvous point, that I am to lead you to."

"What are the helping hands going to do with me once I reach them?" Shorty furrowed his brow again.

"All will be explained to you once we arrive." Rita told him. "I unfortunately don't have the time to give you all the details."

"I just still can't believe all this…" Shorty spoke softly…the reality of this all had just hit him like a sledgehammer. "I don't have a family…I don't have parents, when all this time I thought I did…all this time, I was trying to live a life I wasn't meant to live…" He clenched his eyes shut. "My life is a lie…"

"Shorty…" Rita spoke to him sternly. "Stay in control…"

"My whole life is a lie!" He spoke again, getting louder, huffing and puffing.

"Please Shorty, don't give in to the urge again. Not now!"

"GRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Shorty suddenly roared out in a rage, his eyes going blood red once more. Rita could only watch as he got up onto his hind legs, and transformed into the creature once more. He wasted no time as he ran out through the misty lands, still roaring out in anger…anger mixed with pain, and sadness…the worst kind of blind rage he could fall into.

Rita follwed him as quickly as he could, trying to stop him before he did any damage, or attracted the attention of Talos.

Unfortunately, a male duckbill dinosaur was in the area, enjoying some food from the water nearby. He heard the sound of the creature's roaring, and quickly looked up to see it running right towards him.

Before he could react, though, the creature soon hopped right on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

"Shorty, no!" Rita called out to the creature.

He didn't listen, still lost in a blind rage, as he extracted his claws, and jammed one right into the duckbill's stomach. The dinosaur roared in pain and jerked as blood began to leak out of his mouth. The creature roared viciously, keeping up with the attack, jamming his blades into the male's stomach over and over again, staining the grass and his flesh with blood as he growled and snarled…before a tail suddenly came down and smacked the creature right off his victim.

The creature grunted and rolled back onto his feet, before he suddenly saw the female companion of the duckbill.

"Oh my stars! Herald!" The female attended to her wounded mate quickly, as a few children frantically scrambled around them, each of them shouting "Daddy! Daddy please don't die! Please don't die!"

It was at that moment the creature finally snapped out of his rage…he mournfully turned and fled, letting out a frustrated roar as he disappeared into the trees once more.

Rita followed quickly, and lost him for a brief period of time…the little robot kept up its search though, and eventually found him, deep within the woods. He was in his original form once more, parts of his body stained with blood as he lay on the ground curled up, sobbing.

"No…no…no…" Was all Shorty could manage to say through his tears. "How could I have done that?"

"Now you see…" Rita told him softly. "Now you know what it is you're capable of doing…now you know just how dire your situation is."

"He's gonna die, isn't he?" Shorty asked ashamedly, referring to the duckbill.

"I don't know…" Rita responded. "He may die…or he may yet live…either way, we cannot waste time by waiting to find out. Not with Talos on your trail. We need to get you to the rendezvous point."

"Leave me alone…" Shorty groaned. "If this is what I'm capable of now, then I'd rather have Talos find me, and kill me…"

"Shorty…" Rita spoke a little louder now. "If Talos catches you, there will be multiple versions of your altered self all over the galaxy. More innocent blood will be spilled, and that means even more blood will be on your hands…now get back on your feet!"

Shorty nodded slowly, as he stood back up, still stained with blood on parts of his body, a shaming reminder of what he had just done.

"Don't give in to despair." Rita spoke once more. "The helping hands will be able to save you from all this, I promise…all I need is for you to follow me, and trust me."

Shorty nodded again. "Well…if it ultimately means getting rid of this horrible monster inside of me…then lead the way.

Rita complied, flying around him a few times, before going out into another section of the woods, leading him in the right direction.

"You should stay on foot for now…I know you can leap very far in your other form, but that will just make it easier for Talos to spot you."

Shorty looked around at the woods, before gazing back at the wasp in the distance. "Good idea." He responded, before vanishing into the mist with her once more…


	4. The Fall of Redclaw

Just an advance warning…this chapter is an especially gory and brutal one…reader discretion is advised,

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Night had now fallen on the misty lands, as Talos looked on from the top of a hill. He squatted and observed the injured male Duckbill, who looked to be still among the living, fortunately.

The wound on his stomach was unmistakable to Talos as he watched…it had to be from the experiment he was tracking down…He now knew he was on the right path.

The grotesque creation slowly stood back on his feet as his tail swished, growling lightly. He hadn't seen the experiment leaping around anymore, so this was probably going to take some more time.

He walked away, and stopped only for a moment, looking over and seeing one of the duckbill's children. She was relieved that her father seemed to be recovering, and was now enjoying some fruit that had fallen from a nearby tree.

She was startled at first, when she looked out and saw the huge creature staring back at her. Talos only growled a little bit, and walked slowly towards her, eyeing the fruit gathered near her.

The girl slowly picked up one piece of fruit, and held it out to the creature.

"Want one?" She asked, innocently, and slightly nervous.

Talos slowly reached out, in no kind of attack position…he accepted the treat, and opened his maw and mandibles, chomping down on it slowly.

The girl just watched him, puzzled as he made a satisfied grunting noise, and reached down, picking up a few more to take with him.

"Y-you're welcome…" was all the girl could manage to say, as Talos slowly walked away from the area, chomping down on another fruit as he continued his search…

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Shorty had now reached a land made mostly of rock and water, some of which had been dripping down from the walls after a recent storm. Rita flew around him as he stopped for a moment to wash the blood from his body.

"It's strange…" Shorty spoke softly. "It's the dead of night, and I'm not even sleepy."

"Part of your new genetic makeup." Rita responded. "I believe you share a few genes with a species called the Ambus, who don't require sleep for proper functioning."

"It's just as well, I suppose…" Shorty nodded as he washed himself. "I can't imagine the kind of dreams I'd be having now."

"Plus we don't have to stop anywhere, and run the risk of Talos spotting you." Rita flew around a few more times, before moving towards the right side of the rocky place, heading into a passageway. "This way…"

Shorty walked carefully through the narrow passage, and out to the other side. He then looked down and saw footprints, large and small, as he walked into another forested area.

"Hey…it looks like another longneck herd's been through here." He told Rita, before thinking out loud to himself… "I wonder if it was Ali's herd."

Rita sensed what he was thinking of, as she floated back towards him. "Shorty…you can't go looking for your friends now."

"I know that, I know that…" Shorty responded in a reluctant, and partially annoyed manner, nodding his head. He then sighed softly as he continued to let Rita lead the way.

"I just wish I could see them all…just one more time."

"I know how much your friends mean to you…" Rita spoke in a compassionate tone to him. "But remember what you've become now, and what you're capable of…it's better that your friends remember you for who you once were, rather that what you are now, don't you think?"

Shorty thought about this for a moment, and nodded once again. "Yeah…I suppose you're right."

Rita said no more, as continued to guide the way through the dense forest, with Shorty following close behind.

"I just hope these 'helping hands' turn out to be just as good friends." He thought to himself, as he climbed slowly over a large tree root that was in front of him, continuing on the path before him.

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Ali bounded quickly over to her mother, with Rhett close behind, as usual. The herd had been in their usual slow travel mode, until something up at the front had stopped them. Ali was naturally curious as to why this would happen, so she went off from her position further behind to get closer and investigate.

Rhett was a little more cautious about it as he followed, but part of him still wanted to impress Ali as much as he could, and wanted to give her no opportunities to think him a coward.

"What's going on, mother?" The longneck girl asked as she craned her neck curiously, trying to get a better look at the herd's leaders.

"The Old One's detected something, Ali…" She answered, in an almost ominous tone of voice. "Something very unusual."

"How do you know it's unusual?" Rhett jumped into the conversation, cocking his eyebrow a bit.

"I've known the Old One a lot longer than you have, young one…" Ali's mother turned her head towards him slowly. "If she had picked up the tracks or the scent of an ordinary sharptooth, she would have simply led us towards a new path without stopping."

She then looked back towards the Old One as Ali kept her gaze fixed on her mother. Her eyes were slightly wide open. "Whatever it is, it must have really spooked her to keep us standing her for this long…and the Old One doesn't spook easily."

Ali and Rhett went dead silent upon hearing this, and just watched…the Old One was still sniffing the air, as one of her associates in the leadership, a male longneck only slightly younger than she was, approached her.

"What is it you smell?" He asked her. "Why do you keep sniffing it?…Old One, you're making everyone rather nervous now."

"Perhaps they have good reason to be nervous…as I am right now…" She answered silently.

"What?" He asked again, growing impatient. "For the love of the bright circle, what is it?"

"It smells…almost like another longneck…" She turned her head in one direction, looking away from her associate. "But…it smells like a sharptooth as well…something I've never come across before."

"Longneck…and sharptooth?" The associate blinked in confusion. "But how is that even possible?"

"That's not all…" She inhaled deeply before continuing. "I think I smell blood…" She inhaled again. "Yes…blood was spilled in this area."

Her associate's eyes widened as he coughed a little and responded to her. "Well then…all the more reason for us to leave this place, right? I mean, whatever this thing is, it's obviously hungry, and if we stay standing around here, it's going to see us as a potential feast, no?"

It was at that moment that the Old One Snapped out of her current state of mind, and nodded to him. "You're right Varnok…I shouldn't be paralyzing either myself or the herd with my fear."

She then turned and faced the herd. "Everyone…we're going turn around, and take the other path through the mountains…"

Before she could lead everyone out of this wooded area however, they were startled by a sudden noise…a very powerful roaring.

"REDCLAW!" One of the longnecks in back of the herd shouted out, as everyone immediately began to panic.

The large, imposing T-rex tromped out from behind them and roared out once again. He was, of course, missing one of his eyes now, a result of his first encounter with the creature. He had also been tracking the scent of the creature, in order to get revenge for the killing of his two raptor friends. It was purely coincidental that he came upon the wandering longneck herd in his search…but since he had found them, he might as well have himself a snack, he figured.

"Everyone take cover!" Varnok shouted, as he and the other males of the herd stood their ground, allowing everyone else, including Ali and Rhett, to move behind them.

Redclaw wasted no time, as he lunged towards both Varnok and the Old One. Despite his limited vision, he was still dangerous. Varnok gave him a hard thwack across the face with his tail, causing him to fall back for a moment. Redclaw simply shook it off, and roared at the two again.

"One of his eyes is gone!" The Old One pointed out to her associate. "Hit him where can't see!"

Redclaw growled as he heard this, somehow able to understand her pointing out his new disability…and he wasn't about to let anyone capitalize on it. He lunged again as Varnok swung his tail, ducking under him this time, and going right for the Old One.

The Old One prepared to swing her own tail, but he was too quick, as he viciously sunk his fangs right into her back. She yelled out in pain as blood began to seep out of the wound.

"OLD ONE!" Ali screamed as she watched in terror with Rhett, her voice booming out across the forest.

It was loud enough for a certain lone longneck to pick up, thanks to his improved sense of hearing.

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Shorty stopped right in his tracks as he heard the female voice, Rita leading the way still. The voice sounded familiar to him…very familiar…even though he had only heard it a few times before.

"What is it?" Rita asked him, buzzing back towards his direction.

"Ali!" Shorty then connected the name and face to the voice, as he suddenly bounded off in the direction where he had heard it.

"Shorty, don't!" Rita shouted to him in his mind. It was no use though…Shorty had always been the stubborn sort…

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Varnok had acted quickly upon seeing Redclaw bite the Old One. He charged in and growled fiercely, tackling the large T-rex as the two tumbled away from the Old One.

The Old One gasped and stumbled, her wound very raw and bloody on her back as she tried to find cover. Meanwhile, Varnok had rolled off of Redclaw, and prepared to attack him again, thinking the dumb Sharptooth would oblige him.

But Redclaw was unfazed by the attack, and kept his sights squarely on the old, wounded female, tromping towards her for yet another bite.

"Don't you touch her!" Varnok shouted as he charged him again. Redclaw was ready for him this time, and simply ducked down and caught one of Varnok's front legs in his jaws.

Varnok screamed in pain as he felt the teeth sink in, blood flowing from his leg now, as Redclaw simply let him fall away for the time being…one meal at a time was how this predator worked.

The Old One cowered against a rock wall, her wound still oozing on her back, as other males from the herd ganged up behind her, acting as a shield. Redclaw looked them all over, and roared once again. As far as he was concerned, the Old One was marked as a meal, and he never let his marked meals live…

He opened his great jaws, and prepared to lunge in towards the herd, until…

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

His head suddenly jerked back, as he cocked his remaining eye…he recognized that roar.

Everyone else looked in back of them, and scattered, making way for a small, but menacing creature in green, with red eyes, and long glistening claws…it was the creature.

Redclaw prepared to lunge down at the beast, but it was too quick, as it soon ran past his right and swiped the blade on its right had directly through his ankle.

The weapon cut through flesh and muscle easily, as blood soon sprayed out of Redclaw's foot. The Sharptooth screeched angrily, and in pain, as he collapsed onto his knee upon this maneuver.

The male longnecks had all scattered in fear of the creature, leaving the Old One by herself as she faced down Redclaw, watching him slowly get back onto his wounded foot, balancing carefully.

She was then stunned to see the creature walking right towards her now. She feared the worst, recognizing the same scent on it from before, preparing for yet another attack, as the wounded Varnok could only watch…

But it soon stopped, right in front of her, and looked up at her. Its blades were outstretched, but something…like some kind of inner voice, was making it hesitate.

The Old One, and the others, were soon surprised to see the creature turn its back to her, and face down Redclaw, as if shielding her.

Redclaw roared angrily, hell-bent on getting both his meal, and his revenge; the creature responed to this threat by outstretching its arms, and growling loudly.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…"

Rita soon arrived on scene, seeing what was happening, as the creature's body suddenly began to crackle, pulsate…and then grow…

Redclaw watched, stunned in his own Sharptooth way, as the creature slowly increased in size in front of the old one, as if focusing all of its energy to do so. In mere moments, it was now the same size as Redclaw.

"That's impossible…" Rita thought to herself. "He's activated his Macrogenus Core!"

Ali, Rhett, and the others, all watched in stunned silence, as the creature stood its ground in front of The Old One. Redclaw, never being one to back down from any challenge, lunged straight towards them both.

The Creature roared as he ran to Redclaw, and reached out with its large right hand. It caught the sharptooth quickly by the throat, and held him firmly by the jugular, squeezing hard.

Redclaw choked loudly, and kicked wildly, feeling his throat on the verge of bursting from the pressure. He then got a lucky hit, as one of his left foot-claws slashed at the creature's leg.

The creature growled in pain as it relinquished its grip on the sharptooth, instinctively checking his leg as some green blood came out. Redclaw then made his way towards the Old One once more, opening his jaws and lunging…

The creature was quick to react though…just before Redclaw could sink his fangs into the Old One's throat, it lunged out with its right arm, letting his jaw clamp down on that instead.

The Old One watched as the creature roared in pain, more green blood leaking out as its arm was in the grasp of the sharptooth's jaws. It then looked back towards the Old One, and made a motion with its head.

"Go!…" It suddenly croaked at her, in a low, primitive, and menacing voice. The Old One gasped a bit, but soon complied, stumbling over to the rest of the herd. Once the coast was clear, the creature slowly bared its own sharp, jagged teeth, and lean to bite back.

Redclaw screeched again, as he felt the beast's fangs rip right into the flesh of his muzzle. Blood spurted as the creature took a few more quick bites, and pulled back, ripping off the flesh around the sharptooth's nose before it spit it out onto the grass.

The sharptooth relinquished its grip on his arm, and shook his head angrily, throwing a little blood around as the creature wiped the blood from its own mouth with a hand. It then ran in while Redclaw was stunned, and promptly thumped him three times in the chest with its fists.

Redclaw grunted and screeched again, as he felt each punch shattering many of his ribs. He fell back again, roaring in frustration and agony, before mindlessly lunging towards the beast once more…

It proved to be his last mistake, ever.

The creature quickly grabbed the upper jaw of the sharptooth with its left hand as he lunged. Before he could bite, it then extracted the blade on its right hand, and swiped it across the sharptooth's mouth, completely lopping off his lower jaw.

Blood spurted freely from the severed jaw, as Redclaw screeched through the wound one last time, before he collapsed onto his front. He was now slowly dying from blood loss.

The creature eased Redclaw's passing, by grabbing his head with its left hand once more, and quickly driving its right blade into the back of his skull.

Redclaw's remaining eye shot wide open from the shock…then slowly rolled into the back of his head as the rest of his body went limp…and then forever still.

The creature began to pant a little, as it then retracted the blade, and slowly sat down near its kill. It then eyed the startled longneck herd, and slowly shook its head, speaking up in that same, primitive voice.

"No…" It spoke to them, as if using its own vocal chords was still rather difficult.

"No harm…" It looked down at Redclaw's body, and back at the herd. "No harm…anymore."

It panted and began to look down, as Ali slowly stepped out from the herd, sensing something familiar in the creature's eyes.

"Don't get any closer to it!" Varnok warned her as he limped on his three good legs towards the herd. "You saw what it did to Redclaw."

"It would have done the same thing to all of us by now, if it wanted!" She quickly retorted as she walked closer to the creature. "But I don't think it does."

"She's right…" Ali's mother backed her up as she nodded. "I saw the whole thing…that creature was protecting the Old One."

The others began to discuss, and nod in agreement, as Ali slowly approached the now-placid creature. It panted a few more times, before its body began to smoke a bit, and shrink back down.

Ali watched in wonder, as its form also began to change shape…within moments, she saw a familiar face…a familiar longneck face.

"Shorty?…" She spoke softly, her eyes wide open and jaw nearly on the ground.

"Hi…" he simply responded, tiredly…not from sleepyness, obviously, but exhaustion from having expended so much of his power.

"Shorty…What is going on here?" She asked him, eagerly. "How did you become that…that thing I just saw."

Shorty just rolled his head around with his eyes closed. "I did it…" he smiled gently as he spoke.

"Did what?" Ali furrowed her brow. "You're not making any sense…none of this is making any sense."

"I had control…" He moaned happily through his closed eyes, his head wavering in a woozy fashion. "For once…I had…control…"

He then collapsed onto his side, losing consciousness.

"Shorty!" Ali yelled as she quickly examined him. Rhett, who finally mustered up the courage, ran right over to her side.

"Is the freak dead?" He asked her with a scowl.

"Cut that out, Shorty." Ali scolded him. "He just saved all of our lives."

"Ali!" Ali's mother called to her, as the rest of the herd seemed to be gathering. "We need to leave this place, and fast."

"Why?" Ali bounded back over to her. "What's wrong?"

"We need to get the Old One and Varnok to the Great Valley…" She explained to her daughter. "It's the only place near here where they can both properly recover."

Ali nodded as Rhett ran back to her side. She then looked behind her, and thought of something.   
"Mother…we should take Shorty too…I mean, he did save us from Redclaw…it'd be wrong to just leave him."

Ali's mother walked slowly over to Shorty's sleeping body, and looked over him for a moment. She was a bit nervous about picking him up, understandably…but, her maternal instincts soon took over.

"Perhaps you're right…" She nodded, before slowly leaning over, and gently gripping Shorty in her mouth, slowly lifting him.

Rita flew about in back of the herd, watching as Shorty was carried off. There was no sign of Talos at the moment, so she was in no rush to try and bring him back to consciousness.

"He's progessing much faster than expected…" She thought to herself. "The Helping Hands will be pleased…"

With that, she turned, and flew away from the scene.

"Yes…most pleased…"


	5. Turning From The Past

The form of Talos stood silently on the rocks overlooking the Great Valley. The sun was beginning to set, as he looked down and silently growled. Before, he had been relentless in his pursuit of Shorty and his powers, but now…he seemed hesitant for some bizarre reason.

There was a reason for it, though…however, it was a reason that was confined to Talos' own central processor.

TALOS UNIT MSG: REQUEST UPDATE ON MISSION OBJECTIVES

NO FURTHER UPDATES AT THIS TIME. CONTINUE TO OBSERVE EXPERIMENT #923.

TALOS UNIT: CENTRAL SYSTEM QUERY: REQUEST INFORMATION REGARDING RESTRAINT COMMANDS IN APPREHENDING EXPERIMENT #923.

EXPERIMENT #923 HAS EXHIBITED A PHENOMENAL DEVELOPMENT FACTOR OF 8.25 SINCE MATURATION, AND HAS ACTIVATED MACROGENUS CORE WITHOUT ASSISTANCE FROM CENTRAL SYSTEM. EXPERIMENT #923 HAS NOW BEEN CLASSIFIED AS AN ANOMALY, AND WARRANTS FURTHER OBSERVATION BEFORE CAPTURE.

TALOS UNIT MSG: OBJECTIVE UNDERSTOOD. WILL COMPLY WITH CURRENT COMMANDS.

Talos rumbled inside his chest a little as he squatted, tireless as ever in his task as he watched what transpired below.

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"Come bright circle…bid me good morning…blanket me with your endless light…"

He heard the pretty voice singing to him as he lie still on the ground, eyes still closed…

"Shield me from the cold of the darkness…warm my heart with your endless light…life forever thrives…as long as you're alive…"

Shorty opened his eyes slowly, to see Ali standing over him in the light of the sunset.

"Oh good…you're finally awake." She smiled lightly as she sat down next to him. "I hope you didn't mind the singing…it's an old lullaby my mother used to sing to me…it always makes me calm, and I figured, with such a ferocious creature in you now…"

Shorty groaned as he remembered it all, sitting up slowly.

"I'm sorry…" Ali blushed a bit. "I said too much."

"No, no, it's ok…" Shorty shook his head as he closed his eyes, still trying to clear the cobwebs out a bit.

"I liked the singing…" he sighed, half sad and half happy. "For a moment, it made me think that I actually had a mother."

"What do you mean?" Ali asked him, a confused look on her face.

"It's a long story…" Shorty yawned a bit as opened his eyes again. "How long was I out for, anyway?"

"At least two days…" she responded.

"Two days?" He looked right at her, his eyes growing wide in disbelief.

She nodded in a matter-of-fact way, as he turned his head away from her and narrowed his eyes. "Talos could have made his move at any time now…why didn't he?"

"Talos?" Ali looked even more confused now.

Shorty sighed and shook his head. "Again, long story…Where are we right now?"

"Someplace safe." Ali smiled a bit as she responded. "We're just outside of the Great Valley."

"The Valley?" Shorty gasped a bit, before he struggled back onto his feet. "No…no…I can't be here."

"Shorty!" Ali got right in front of him to keep him from running away. "You still need to rest."

"It's not safe for me to stay here!" He firmly retorted to her. She backed away; looking rather scared, as he sighed, trying not to get too angry, as he lowered his head once more.

"If only I could tell her…" He thought to himself, remembering the time he went berserk and almost killed that duckbill.

"Tell me what?" She suddenly asked him.

"I didn't say anything." He blinked as he looked back up.

"I heard you loud and clear…" Ali shook her head slowly. "You said 'If only I could tell her'…"

Shorty's expression immediately took one of surprise as he stood. "That was exactly what I was thinking…how did you do that?"

Before the befuddled Ali could answer, another familiar female voice spoke up.

"It is because you have unconsciously established a telepathic link with her, Shorty…"

Shorty looked up quickly, to see Rita buzzing down near the two longnecks.

"Tele-what?" Shorty furrowed his brow at the wasp.

"She can read your thoughts now…" Rita responded as she landed on a rock nearby. Ali could hear her too, since she had now activated her speakers. "…and you can read hers, if you so wish."

"Excuse me…" Ali interrupted, looking to the strange wasp, then Shorty. "Would you mind telling me who this flying stinger is, and why it can talk?"

"Oh!" Shorty suddenly realized. "You two haven't met…Ali, this is Rita…Rita's been acting as an assistant, helping me to find the 'Helping Hands'."

"What?" Ali tilted her head and gave him an even more confused look.

Shorty then gave her a serious look as his smile faded. "I've got a lot to tell you now…"

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"I think there's something we're all forgetting in this panic…" Littlefoot's Grandfather spoke up, addressing the rest of the adults that had gathered. "Redclaw is dead…finally, after all this time he had terrorized us."

The Old one watched as she lay on the ground, still recovering from her wounds. The wandering herd had wisely decided to leave Shorty outside of the Valley at first, so that they could tell their story, and clear the air with everyone else.

"Were you even listening, old Longneck?" Topsy interjected, yet again. "Didn't you hear how brutally Redclaw was killed by this….this…thing?" He shook his head quickly. "There is no way I'm gonna let something like that into the Valley!"

Many of the other dinosaurs began to mutter amongst themselves as he said this…some agreeing, others not quite so sure. It was in that moment that Littlefoot had quietly wandered in on this gathering, curious as to what was going on…he looked to his left and right, sensing that this was an especially important conversation.

"Grandma?…what's going on?" He asked her, as his Grandfather was at present too involved in the conversation.

"Littlefoot…" Grandma responded as she looked right down at him. "I don't think you should be hanging around here right now. We're talking about something that could be…upsetting to you."

Before she could shoo Littlefoot away, however, Rhett suddenly spoke up in the group.

"I know it sounds really scary…" He stepped forward from behind a couple of adults. "But Ali and me saw it all…if Shorty had wanted to hurt us, he would have done it by now!"

Littlefoot gasped and looked straight up at both of his grandparents. "Shorty?"

Grandma had a panicked look on her face as she motioned away with her head. "Littlefoot, please go away. We'll talk later."

"But what's wrong with Shorty?" Littlefoot persisted, walking to his Grandfather this time.

"Littlefoot, please…" Grandpa almost scolded him. "There's no way you could understand it, if we even told you now. I'm still trying to understand it myself."

"Then I'll find it out myself!" He firmly retorted. "I'm not gonna stop seeing him, no matter what you say." He then ran away from the gathering.

Grandpa was about to call him back loudly, before Rhett suddenly addressed him.

"Let him go…" He gazed upon the elder longneck with pleading eyes. "Trust me…Ali's with Shorty right now. If I didn't Trust Shorty right now, I would have stayed there with her…"

Grandpa nodded softly, and sighed, as Grandma shook her head slowly.

"What a willful boy he's become…" She spoke, half proud, half mournful.

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"So…this Progenitor thing is out trying to collect you?"

Ali was slowly piecing everything together of what Shorty had told her, making sense out of all the information.

"That's correct…" Rita spoke for him this time as she floated around the two, buzzing. "I am currently going to lead Shorty to the Helping Hands, of which he spoke earlier. They will help him in counteracting the mission of the Progenitor, by assiting him in destroying Talos, who pursues him now."

"Oh! That's right!" He remembered as he looked upon Rita with wide eyes. "Rita, I've been asleep for two whole days…Talos could have moved to capture me a long time ago…why didn't he?"

"I don't know…" Rita answered as she buzzed around him. "We've been strangely fortunate with that. But, I suspect he might be curious, seeing as how you already activated your Macrogenus core…"

"My what?" Shorty furrowed his brow.

"It's one of the more computerized aspects of your genetic makeup…" She explained. "It allows you to change your size…to increase, or decrease your mass at will. It usually takes an experiment many weeks before it can accomplish this. Therefore, Talos might be observing, and changing his tactics in apprehending you."

Shorty nodded slowly as he listened to this, before another thought came to his mind. "But…we've still got our mission too…why didn't you try to wake me? Why did you let the wandering herd carry me all this way."

"Because…" Rita answered again in a matter-of-fact way. "We were also fortunate in the direction the herd was carrying you. The base of operations for the Helping Hands is actually very close to this valley."

"Really?" Shorty responded with a partial smile.

"Um, excuse me…" Ali stepped forward to get Rita's attention. "What are these Helping Hands going to do with Shorty once he goes to them?"

"After they help him, they're going to take him away…" Rita answered her.

"Away?" Ali looked rather surprised. "Where to?"

"Another planet…" Rita buzzed around her as she spoke. "A new world…A safe world…one where Shorty's abilities can be put to use against the menace of The Progenitor…"

"You mean he's going away? He's leaving his world?" She ran over to her friend soon after. "Shorty…you can't do that!"

"I have to…" Shorty flatly stated."

"But what about Littlefoot?" She protested. "What about all your friends?…what about Bron?"

"Bron?" Shorty's expression turned fierce at the mention of Bron's name. "You mean the one who stood idly by, and let everyone in his herd kick me out? Just because of what I was turning into? Turning into my true self?"

Ali looked on in shock as Shorty's eyes took their crimson hue once more, the change seemingly coming along…but again, Shorty had more control now, and shook it off before it could all take hold, turning his gaze away from her.

"Would you listen to yourself?" Ali spoke softly as she recovered from the scare. "You really think this…this creature is what you truly are?"

Shorty stood with his back turned to her, not saying anything.

"I don't care what you've told me, or what Rita's told me…" Ali walked closer to him as he stood still. "I've known you for a long time, Shorty…ever since Littlefoot introduced you to me when both our herds met in the valley. Ok, you were a little…rough around the edges, I'll admit. But I always felt that deep down, there was a part of you that was good…a part of you that was decent, and loving."

Shorty closed his eyes firmly, as Ali approached him from the front now. "Are you really willing to deny that part of yourself?…Do you really want to just turn your back on everyone and everything you know and love in this world?"

"You make very valid points, Ali…" Rita spoke for Shorty now as she flew down in front of the young female. "But the fact of the matter is, Shorty has new abilities, and new strengths…that could easily become liabilities if he were not to be taught how to harness them…how to fully control them. Only the Helping Hands can offer him this kind of guidance."

Before Ali could make a rebuttal, she then flew over to Shorty, who slowly opened his eyes now.

"Come now, Shorty…The base of operations is only a mile from he-"

An explosion suddenly erupted at Shorty's feet, making Ali scream as he rolled away from the scattering dirt and debris. He quickly turned to see the snarling figure of Talos staring him down.

"Oh no…" Shorty muttered, ominously.

"He must have been spying on us until now!" Rita buzzed around him as Talos fired more shots at her, missing. Shorty took the time to protect Ali as the wasp kept Talos' attention. He led her over to a few bushes, and quickly urged her to go behind them.

"Shorty!" Rita shouted to him from her speakers. "He mustn't be allowed to know the location of the base! You're going to have to put him out of commission somehow!"

Shorty nodded quickly, as he scrambled over to Talos, once he was certain that Ali was safe. He then stared down at the creature, and scowled menacingly.

"I've been waiting for this moment to come, deep down…" he growled at Talos. "No more running from you!" His eyes quickly returned to their crimson color, as his teeth began to sharpen in his mouth.

"You want to take me back to your master?…give it your best shot!"

Talos simply stood at the ready, as Shorty quickly roared out, and morphed into the creature once more. The beast wasted no time as he extracted both of his long blades from his wrists, and dashed towards the other creature, slashing wildly.

Talos responded by ducking and weaving at every second, expertly dodging each of the creature's attacks, before nailing him with a hard standing kick along the sternum. The creature went flying into a tree, his mass causing it to smash in half and fall over. Ali quickly noticed that the top section of the tree was falling towards her, rolling out of the way as the two continued their fight.

The creature got back on his feet, undaunted, as he then ran towards Talos again, and jumped, nailing him along the face with his right foot, in an impressive leaping kick. The force of the move was enough to through Talos off balance, as he landed onto his feet, and quickly brought down his right arm and blade.

The swing was strong enough to cut through flesh and bone, as Talos soon discovered. Within just a second, the creature had severed his left arm, causing a spray of his greenish blood to flow out from the wound, the hand section of his cut limb flexing on the ground.

But Talos made no cries of pain, as he held out his right hand, and caught the left arm of the creature before he could do any more damage. He then used the moment, to hold out what was left of his severed arm, causing a new one to quickly grow in its place.

The creature watched this, distracted. This allowed Talos the opportunity to bring his regrown hand over to his neck, and squeeze. The creature wriggled and coughed as Talos began to choke him out, once again trying to subdue him.

The creature growled as he gripped at Talos' choking arm. He was hell bent on showing him that taking him down wouldn't be so easy this time. It was at this moment, that his muscles began to ripple once more, and slowly grow in size…

Talos quickly noticed this, letting the creature go as he once again had activated his macrogenus core, growing and growing to an immense size that could be seen from quite a distance.

Ali looked on in awe, as Talos simply revealed that he had the same ability as well. Within seconds, he activated his own macrogenus core, and expanded his size and mass to match that of the creature.

The ground began to shake, as the creature once more charged towards Talos, and lunged onto his knee. He moved too quickly for the other giant this time, and bloodily impaled his left blade through his chest, and out through his back.

Talos sputtered as this happened, his greenish blood leaking out through his back, as well as his menacing mouth. He wasn't even close to succumbing, however, as he then raised his right fist, and pounded the creature's back with it hard.

The creature felt the blows hard against his spine, as Talos soon pounded him with another blow. He responded to the punches by rising, his left blade still in Talos' gut, as he then aimed and thrust his right into his neck. He then roared as he pulled out, and thrust the blade back in again…and again…and again.

Talos choked, and sputtered again, more of his greenish blood leaking out through his mouth, as it also sprayed from what would have been the jugular vein of a human. The creature growled triumphantly as he believed he finally had his kill.

But just as he was at his moment of victory, Talos growled back, and spit a wad of his green blood right into his eyes. The creature grunted, as Talos then leaned forward, and latched onto his left shoulder with his sharp teeth and strong jaws. The creature could feel him crunching down into his flesh, his own blood flowing now as he yelped and roared out in rage, stabbing at Talos with his blades wildly.

It was no use, though, as Talos kept down on him with his strong bite, slowly wrestling him to the ground as he bit down once more, and made the creature scream out in pain.

Before Talos could fully subdue the creature, however, he felt something…something small trying to lash at his foot. He looked down, and saw Ali, swinging away at him bravely with her tail.

"Let him go!" She screamed, with tears in her eyes. "Don't you kill him!"

Talos growled a bit as he just stared down at her. Ali had planned on hitting him fast, then running away and letting him chase her…she stood right there on all fours, looking up at the monster with wide eyes, waiting for him to make his move.

But Talos did no such thing…He didn't roar…he didn't try to chase her…it was almost as if he didn't WANT to attack the defenseless longneck.

Ali only had a moment to ponder what had just happened; however…this moment of confusion was all that the creature had needed. He roared as he suddenly lunged up at Talos, and stuck his left blade right through one of his eyes. Blood, and other gunk spewed from the wound, as Talos growled angrily and fell back, clutching one hand at where his right eye had been until now.

The creature roared angrily, as he then raised his right blade, waited for Talos to bring down his hand, and slashed at him diagonally…

With just a slight cutting noise, Talos' head soon separated cleanly from the rest of his body, falling off and crashing down to the ground in front of him. The creature could now see the wires and metal that made up parts of Talos' computerized spinal column and brain, as the rest of his body fell forward to ground, almost causing an earthquake from the impact.

The creature then slowly deactivated his macrogenus core, shrinking down to his normal size once again. As he was shrinking, he turned his head, and noticed something else…Littlefoot had arrived onto the scene earlier, with all of his friends in tow, and had seen everything.

"Shorty?" Littlefoot called to him, his eyes wide open, as everyone else was too stupefied to speak.

The creature looked on at Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie, Spike, Ruby, and Chomper…he was now more in touch with Shorty's memories, as he recognized them all, and remembered…remembered all the good times…all the happiness…

But things were different now…he was no longer the Shorty they all knew and loved…he took another long look at everyone, before grunting and turning, running off into the forest nearby.

Littlefoot gave chase for a second, but soon realized how fast the creature was, and let him leave, turning his attention to Ali.

"Are you ok?" He asked her.

"I'm…" She shook her head slowly. "I'm more confused than ever now."

"That's hardly surprising…" Ruby spoke up as she approached Ali. "Seeing such a confusing thing at such a confusing time would only bring up more confusion anyway."

"It's so amazing to see a longneck that can turn into a sharptooth…especially a sharptooth that I've never seen before…" Chomper gazed out into the distance with awe.

"No…" Ali shook her head in response. "He's not a sharptooth…he's…something else."

Cera sighed a bit as she looked over everyone else. "I hate to say it guys, but it's probably a good thing he left us…I mean, I heard my father talking about how dangerous that creature could be."

"At least he took out that other dangerous creature for us…" Ducky spoke up in his defense.

"That's the thing though…" Ali furrowed her brow as she thought about the fight. "I had tried to distract Talos…that was the name of the creature attacking Shorty…and he wouldn't even chase me…it's so odd."

"That is because I concluded you were not a threat…" a voice suddenly spoke up.

Ali perked up as she turned to her left and right. "Did you guys hear that?"

Everyone nodded, as Petrie responded, nervously. "Where do you suppose it's coming from?…"

"I have formed a telepathic link with all of you…" The voice spoke again, sounding like that of a calm, young male. "You all seem to be friends of Shorty, so you might be able to help me in my mission…I would have formed a link to Shorty directly, but…something seems to be blocking my ability to do so."

"Where are you?" Littlefoot called out to the voice as he looked all around him, cautiously.

"I'm right below you…"

Littlefoot turned and looked down, seeing the severed head of Talos. His eye was quickly regenerating, as he was looking straight up at the young longneck.

"You?…" Littlefoot stared down at the head. "You're the one who's been attacking Shorty all this time!"

"I've merely been trying to get him under control, earth creature…" Talos' voice echoed in his mind. "I can still succeed, as long as you can bring my head to my body, so I can reattach myself…"

"Why?" Cera stepped forward, suspiciously. "So you can kill all of us, and Shorty too?"

"Please…" Talos spoke again. "You must understand, this is all for Shorty's own good…"

Everyone gathered, as Talos began to clarify the situation for him.

"You see…Shorty is walking into a trap…"


	6. At Death's Door

Quick note: I should mention that I also got a lot of inspiration from the anime series, The Guyver, for parts of this story. Also, one of the characters you'll see in this chapter is derived from the character of Rio, in the series "Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger."

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Shorty was now running madly towards the canyon where Rita told him the base was located, back in his original form. The grass and leaves around him all rustled and blew around as he rushed past them, Rita buzzing along next to him, keeping up.

"Keep going!" Rita encouraged him as he ran. "You're getting close now! Very close!"

He nodded a bit as he kept running, splashing past a creek that was in his way, before running up another hill, and back into the woods towards the canyon.

"Shorty!" He heard a voice calling to him…not Rita's.

He stopped right in his tracks, Rita watching him as he looked around.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, urgently.

"Shorty, can you hear me?" He heard the other female voice calling to him…it was then that he remembered…the telepathic link.

"Yes…" He spoke aloud, seemingly to himself. "Yes, I can hear you, Ali…"

"Shorty, we have to get going!" Rita urged him again.

"Just a minute!" Shorty shot back at her, sharply, before returning to his mind. "What is it, Ali?"

"Shorty, don't go further with Rita!" Ali spoke to him in a panicked, yet confused tone of voice. "She's leading you into a trap!"

"A trap?…" Shorty furrowed his brow. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Talos…well, what's left of him, has been telling us the whole story." Ali answered him. "He's only been attacking you to subdue you, so you don't end up in the hands of these other guys!"

"And you're gonna take his word over mine and Rita's?" Shorty shook his head quickly. "Ali, you're crazy!"

"Shorty, you need to get away from Rita, now!" Ali shouted in his mind now. "She only wants you for-"

"OWWWW!" Shorty suddenly felt a tremendous jolt of pain in his neck. Rita had just stung him, which sent a powerful, signal-blocking chemical directly into his brain. He fell onto his front knees for a moment, riding out the pain in his head before it slowly vanished.

"I'm sorry, Shorty…" Rita spoke to him as she floated down in front of his face. "But she was clearly being manipulated by Talos' still-functional CPU…I had no choice but to sever your telepathic link and block it, so he could no longer use her to lead you astray…now come with me…"

Shorty didn't quite know what to think at this moment…he had thought that Rita would never sting him, like she had done just now. But what if she was right as well? What if Talos really was using Ali to play him right into his hands.

Then he saw Rita flying away, and decided that he had already made his choice…he knew, especially after seeing Littlefoot and his friends just a few moments ago, that he would never be able to return to the valley, no matter what.

He was willing to accept whatever fate had in store for him at this moment, as he shook off the rest of his headache, and followed his new companion…

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"Ouch!" Ali winced as she shut her eyes.

"What is it?" Littlefoot asked her, his eyes wide open.

"Something got in the way…" Ali winced again as she shook her head a little. "Now I can't hear his voice anymore…"

"It must have been Rita…" Talos' voice spoke up once again, in each of their heads. "She must have a way to block telepathic communication now, just like the ones who sent her…"

"Great…" Cera sneered a little. "So what do we do now?"

"I told you…" Talos spoke. "Bring my head to my body, so I can put myself back together, and go after him."

"I don't know about this…" Chomper spoke up now as he examined Talos' body. "Are we even sure we can trust him?"

"Either you trust me…" Talos interjected. "Or you wait and see what happens with Shorty if he continues to follow Rita…your choice."

Everyone stood there, lost in thought. Littlefoot in particular was wondering what to do about this situation, until he heard a voice calling to him.

"Littlefoot?" Bron looked around as he came into the area. He had arrived in the valley recently, and left Mika behind so he could arrange a proper introduction.

"Dad!" Littlefoot's attention was quickly draw away from his predicament, as he ran over to his father, coming out from behind a few trees. "What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing…" He responded, before looking over and spotting the headless body of Talos on the ground, looking on in shock.

"Shorty?" He breathlessly asked to the sky, almost on the verge of crying out in anger and sadness.

"No! No, that's not him!" Littlefoot quickly retorted, motioning to Talos' head…he then froze for a moment, and slowly turned his head back to face his father. "Wait a minute…how do you know about that?"

It took Bron a minute as well, to figure out what it was his son was talking about, until it hit him. He sighed and shook his head a little

"You saw him too, huh?"

Littlefoot nodded slowly, as he looked sadly out into the distance. "We all saw him after he had just finished off Talos here…he took one look at us, and ran away into the woods."

Bron nodded slowly, and sighed again, in a frustrated manner. "After I scolded the herd for kicking him out so shamefully, I left with Mika to look for him…then I heard about the wandering herd, and the encounter with Redclaw, and I tried to catch up with them here…"

"Mika?…" Littlefoot furrowed his brow a little. "Who's Mika?"

"I hate to interrupt…" Talos suddenly spoke out, his voice now echoing in Bron's head as well. "But there's still a chance we can save Shorty from what he's about to walk into…just bring my head to my body, so I can re-attach myself to it."

"Do you really think you can catch him at this point?" Ali asked as she walked over to the head.

"I can definitely track him down…" Talos spoke again. "However…he's going to have to be convinced to come back with me somehow…he's obviously become too strong now, for me to subdue by force."

"What are you gonna do then?" Cera asked, cynically. "Sit down and talk to him."

"As I said before…" Talos answered her. "Something is keeping me from forming a telepathic link with him, so I can't communicate…So, I'd like for at least one of you to accompany me on this mission. That way, he just might listen to our side of it."

"I'll go, then!" Littlefoot stepped forward, before nudging Talos' head back over to his separated body. "I've never turned my back on Shorty whenever he needed help, and I'm not gonna do it now…no matter what he's become, he's still like a brother to me…he's family."

"I'm so glad to hear you saying that, Littlefoot…" Bron smiled as he looked down at his son. "Even though things have changed, you still have a heart to accept him, and care about him…that's why I think I should introduce you to Mika…she has a right to know about what we're doing as well, before we leave…"

"We?" Littlefoot looked up at his father as the two walked off, with everyone else, as Talos worked to re-attach his own head to his body.

"You said it yourself, Littlefoot. He's family." Bron walked quickly now. "I think the best way we can win him back is as a family…"

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Shorty kept running, keeping up with Rita, as her flying grew more frantic, knowing they were almost there as they reached the entrance to the canyon near the valley.

He then stopped right in his tracks…and walked slowly with a sense of awe on his face, as he spotted something in the distance right away.

He saw the form of a black ship, that was in the shape of a giant sphere…its thrusters were planted firmly in the ground, as a satellite dish extended from its top, spinning slowly as sent out its signal. There were odd, gold markings also painted on the exterior of this black sphere, in a form of writing that no one on this planet would have been able to translate.

"Are these the helping hands?" He quickly asked Rita.

"Yes, Shorty…" She answered, as she flew to the front of the sphere. "And you're about to meet the leader, and principal helping hand…"

Shorty then watched in amazement, as a section of the sphere's front became loose, and liquid, spreading open to create an exit from the inside, as part of the liquid spread down to the earth below, creating a ramp as it hardened once again.

It was then that a figure appeared in the doorway, stepping out of the shadows, as black right boot came down upon the ramp with a gentle clanking noise. Shorty then saw the rest of the figure as his left foot then followed.

He had no face…at least not one that Shorty could notice…it was covered with a dark, menacing helmet, the face plate as smooth as black glass, with only a single crease along the center, running from his brow, to his chin. A short, but regal mane, much like that of a lion, extended from the back of this helmet, mostly black itself, except for a gold streak that ran along much of the center.

His black armor accentuated his physical prowess, large and tough, but also graceful and shiny. More of the strange, foreign writing from the sphere was carved onto his chest plate, in the same golden color. His back and shoulders were also adorned with a removable, shaggy cloak. It had small black, plaster heads of two ferocious lions attached to both sides, currently resting on his shoulders. The cloak also partially obscured something else on his back…a powerful, and large broadsword, currently in its black sheath, with golden bands.

"Hail Lord Ipos!" Rita suddenly announced to her single audience. "Grand Warlord of the Principality of Stolas! Conqueror of Erufit! Second in power only to his Highness, Prince Abaddon!"

Shorty could only stand and watched, amazed; yet confused at the same time. He was only distracted from this moment by Rita suddenly zipping back towards him.

"Kneel Shorty…show respect to lord Ipos…"

"It's all right, Rita…" Ipos spoke, his voice deep, but calm at the moment as he put up his hand, walking slowly towards Shorty. "Besides…it's very hard to teach a quadruped to kneel, no?"

"As you wish, sir…" Rita responded, before backing off, to allow Ipos a closer look at the young longneck.

"So surprising…" He spoke as he knelt down for a closer look. "This fragile, young thing has the powers of a Balaur…The Progenitor indeed has an odd taste in test subjects."

"Balaur?…" Shorty tilted his head in confusion at the sound of that word.

"Yes…" Ipos nodded slowly as he rose back to his feet, dusting himself off. "A high-ranking creation in the progenitor's forces, destined for great things on their side from birth…you should feel fortunate while you can, young earth creature. Only a lucky few are born to attain the rank of Balaur."

"Wait a minute…" Shorty suddenly thought of something, as he looked over to Rita. "You said I was going to be copied hundreds of times if the Progenitor caught me, then be killed."

"I'm sorry, my boy…" Ipos shook his head. "But Rita's primary goal in her mission was to deliver you to me…she merely told you what she thought would get you to follow her."

Shorty's eyes began to widen, as he then saw a few other figures leave the exit to the sphere…three gleaming figures in silver armor, faces covered by helmets with short wings extending backwards on each side of the head. They were all carrying three lances, with electrified blades sparkling at the front end.

"What's going on here?…" Shorty asked them both, getting ready to bolt.

"I'm afraid Rita was telling you half-truths, boy…" Ipos now stood with his arms crossed, as the three knights behind him walked closer to Shorty. He tried to run away, only to feel sudden shock of pain, as one of the knights held out the end of his lance and zapped him.

"You are going to die…" Ipos nodded as Shorty dropped onto his side, weakened. "and your body will be sacrificed to create a new army from your genes…but you will actually be doing it in the name of our glorious Prinicpality, and in the name of destruction for all whom oppose us. You should feel honored to die for such a noble cause."

Shorty grunted as he tried to rise onto his feet once more, only to be zapped again by another of the three knights, from the personal guard of Ipos. He growled a bit as his eyes began to change color…

"Yes…" Ipos laughed a little as he knew the transformation was imminent. "Let it happen…show me your raw power, boy. Amuse me for a while, and see what good your incomplete body will do for you, here amongst the civilized!"

"Graaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Shorty yelled out once more…he didn't understand half ofwhat Ipos had just said, but all the same, the way he said it made him really angry.

The knights stepped back for a moment, and observed as Shorty quickly made the transformation once again, rising onto his two feet as the creature stood in his place. He extracted his long blades once more, and roared out into the sky, ready for battle.

One of the knights immediately rushed towards the creature, getting ready to strike and shock him once more. The creature was ready this time, though, as he quickly swung his left blade down, cutting the knight's lance in half as it sparked, and lost its charge.

Then, before the knight could respond to this move, the creature swiftly came forward, and slashed his right blade at his throat. It cut through his armor, and slashed open the flesh underneath, causing red blood to spray messily out of the wound. The knight choked, and grasped at his bleeding throat, before losing consciousness and falling over, the armor now merely containing a dead body, as blood now stained the chest and arms of the armor.

The second knight then took action, as he came at the creature from his side, and jabbed his blade in, shocking him. The creature yelped and shook, as the third knight followed suit, shocking him from the other side.

But all this did now was make the creature even angrier. He suddenly grabbed the lance of the second knight, and used his strength to throw him over, and crash into the third knight.

The two knights fell hard on the rocky ground, struggling back onto their feet as the creature set his sights on the second knight, and ran towards him. He crossed his bladed arms for a second, then suddenly swung them back out towards the knight, severing his head from his neck, and his torso from his legs at the same time. Blood flew all around as the knight's head flew off to the right, and his torso to the left, his legs falling over as the rest of his corpse leaked blood.

The third knight, now scared shitless from the sight of his partner being torn to shreds, swung his lance frantically at the creature, trying to score a hit. The creature easily dodged these wild swings, and knocked the knight's lance away with his right hand. He then came in with his left hand, quickly shoving his blade under the knight's chin, and impaling him through the head with it.

The blade was even sticking through the top of the knights' head, as his body immediately went limp, blood oozing out onto the creature's hand. The creature growled as he pulled out his blade, letting the body collapse onto the ground, as he turned to face the stoic Lord Ipos, and let out a triumphant roar.

"Don't get too confident now…" Ipos shook his head slowly. "That was simply playtime for me…" He then looked towards Rita, and motioned to the ship.

"It's time to show your lord what you're made of."

"Yes sir!" Rita responded, before buzzing into the ship, vanishing. The creature growled, and tilted his head, scraping his claws together as he definitely sensed something else aboard that ship…

Moments later, he heard a menacing growl from inside the ship…this was followed by the sight of another menacing creature. It looked a lot like Talos, only its body was colored yellow, with red and black sections along the arms and legs. Rita was also seen, attached to the creature's right arm.

"Meet your next opponent…" Ipos looked back at the creature. "This is Ornias…The latest creation of our bio-weapons unit. He responds only to Rita's commands, so he can't be corrupted by your Progenitor…"

Ornias roared as he stepped out onto the earth, facing down the creature as he flashed his menacing, metal teeth.

"Death to those who defy lord Ipos!" Rita's eyes flashed now as she spoke, still attached to Ornias as she controlled him.

The creature roared out in extra anger, remembering Rita's betrayal, as he rushed towards Ornias with his blades at the ready. Two buds suddenly grew out of Ornias' left and right shoulder as he attacked, firing lasers out of both.

The creature was caught off guard by the move, as one laser struck him in his right arm, and the other hit his chest. He grunted and rolled off to the side, as Ornias fired again.

The creature rolled forward, and sprung off his feet, as he propelled himself towards Ornias. He prepared to drive the blade on his right arm into the head of this creature, before Ornias' fast reflexes caught him.

In mere seconds, the creature was standing on the ground, with Ornias' left hand gripping his right arm.

"You should have just surrendered, Shorty…" Rita scolded him as Ornias growled, the creature roaring as he tried in vain to free his arm. "You could have saved yourself a lot of the pain you're going to feel now…"

Ornias growled again, before he used his free fist to thump the creature three times in the stomach. The creature grunted in pain, as Ornias then opened his mouth wide, and sunk his teeth deep into the creature's right arm.

Blood flowed, and bones crunched, as the creature shrieked, and roared out in pain, Ornias still munching away with his hard, metal teeth. A few seconds later, he had chewed through the bones completely, as half of the creature's arm now severed at the elbow, dropping to the ground.

The creature shrieked and sputtered, his left arm gripping at what was left of his right, before Ornias then slashed him across the face with his sharp clawed right hand. The creature was spitting blood now, as the claws made deep gashes in the flesh. He collapsed onto his knees, breathing hard as Ornias let out his own triumphant roar.

"Enough of this, Rita…you've proved your worth already…" Lord Ipos nodded, as he gripped at his cloak. He tossed it away a second later, and pulled out his large broadsword. It was big enough to be a 2-hander, but he could wield it in one if he wanted to. It was a testament to his physical strength.

"It's time to put this loathsome animal out of its misery…" Ipos spoke as he kicked the wounded creature onto his back, placing the tip of the sword on his chest, and preparing to drive it into his heart…

His moment of glory was interrupted, however, as he heard the sound of an explosion above him. He quickly looked up to see the satellite from the top, now falling to the ground, broken into pieces.

"No!" Ipos shouted, getting off of the now-unconscious creature, as he turned to see the figure of Talos, who had just taken out the satellite with one blast from his own laser.

Talos growled, with Littlefoot, Bron, and Mika all behind him, as he then let another laser fly, smashing into the right arm of Ornias. Ornias was caught off guard by the blast, which was strong enough to sever his own arm. The creature roared out in pain, his own blood spilling out as Rita had no choice but to detach from the arm, no longer in control of Ornias as he flailed about madly.

Ipos growled in frustration, as he grabbed Ornias by the neck, and threw him back onto the ship, hurrying back on. "The enemy knows our location! Retreat and regroup!"

"Yes sir!" Rita responded as she flew back on to join the rest of the crew. The door then sealed shut once more, as the black sphere ignited, and took off, looking for another corner of the earth to hide.

"Shorty! Shorty!" Littlefoot shouted as he saw the ravaged body of the creature, running over to him as Bron quickly followed with Mika.

"He's still breathing…" Bron reassured his son as he examined him. Mika comfortingly nuzzled Littlefoot as he watched, tears welling up in his eyes. He hardly even knew this female, he thought, but she was already proving to be a comforting presence in this time of great difficulty.

"He's not going to be able to change back in this state…" Talos spoke as he gently scooped the creature's limp form into his arms. "He's going to need help."

"From you?" Littlefoot asked.

"Only my master can help him now…" Talos shook his head slowly as he responded, a portal suddenly opening up in front of him. "Hopefully we can rehabilitate him quickly enough to prepare him for phase 2."

"What's phase 2?" Littlefoot asked as Talos began to carry the creature to the other side.

"Shorty is an unfinished creation in his current form…we're going to complete him."


	7. Embracing Fate

The night had passed, and the next day had arrived in the Great Valley. All had slept well, and were now up on their feet, going about their usual, casual day.

All except for Littlefoot, that was…

He had hardly slept a wink the previous night, and had now spent hours on one of the outer boundaries of the Valley…just watching…and waiting.

Hearing the approaching footsteps of his father finally drew his attention from the outside world.

"There you are…" Bron spoke softly, understandably concerned as he yawned a bit and walked closer to his son. He was about to ask him what was wrong, before he finally remembered what happened the day before in his groggy mind.

Littlefoot didn't respond to his father, as his mind was lost in thought, all about his stepbrother.

"This is out of our reach now, Littlefoot…" Bron spoke to him once more. "All we can do is trust in the Progenitor and Talos, and hope that they can get Shorty back on his feet."

Littlefoot nodded slowly as his father then turned and walked away. "You've got breakfast waiting…"

"Dad?" Littlefoot finally responded to him, his mind suddenly thinking of something else.

"Yes?" Bron turned his head back to face him.

"I was wondering…about Mika…" Littlefoot remembered their quiet little introduction before going off to find Shorty. "Do you have…feelings for her, Dad?" He had paused to find the right word, looking rather nervous about this question.

Bron was just as reluctant to answer his son, but he knew deep down that he deserved to know the truth. He nodded slowly. "Yes son…I have to admit that I do."

"What about mother, though?" Littlefoot breathed a little heavily as he asked him, trying not to get too emotional. "Does this mean that you're leaving her behind? You're forgetting about her?"

"No no, Littlefoot, no…" Bron shook his head quickly as he lowered it to nuzzle his son. "It's nothing like that at all…I'm never gonna forget your mother, Littlefoot…never."

"But how can you be so sure…" Littlefoot whimpered a little, a tear forming in his eye.

"Here…" Bron sat down slowly on all fours. "Come sit next to me…I wanna share something with you."

Littlefoot nodded slowly, before resuming the same sitting position he had for hours until now.

"I wasn't sure I should tell you about this, until now…but Mika had a husband long before she met me."

"She did?" Littlefoot looked up at him, surprised.

"That's right." Bron nodded. "In the great earthshake, the same night when your mother died, Mika's husband fell into a canyon and died, along with her mother." He sighed and lowered his head, remembering the first time he heard this as well. "She was just getting ready to mate with him and have children as well…"

"Oh…." Littlefoot responded sadly, unable to find a way to respond to such a horrible thing.

"It scarred her for a long time, just as losing your mother did to me." Bron looked down at his son as he spoke softly. "When I first saw her, wandering onto my herd, all she would ever do is talk about her husband, and how great he was…and that sat well with me, because I finally had someone to relate all the great stories about your mother to."

"So you two had something in common…" Littlefoot began to smile, just a little.

"That's right…" Bron nodded again. "We also had the same fear though…the fear of getting involved with someone else we might like, thinking we'd dishonor the memories of those we lost, or forget them altogether…but I learned something in that time, Littlefoot…Just like with Mika and her husband, your mother is in my heart…and once someone's in your heart…they're never gonna leave. No matter what."

"Really?" Littlefoot held back a few more tears from Bron's touching words.

"Yup…really…" Bron smiled. "You and I have an extra advantage in our family, though…we both have really big hearts…we can have as many others in them as we want." He then leaned down and nuzzled his son a bit. "So how about we go see if there isn't enough room for Mika?"

Littlefoot giggled a bit through his few tears, as he nuzzled his father back. "Sure thing, Dad!"

"Great!" Bron responded, before getting back onto his feet. "Now how about we go finish our breakfast? Mika found some really good sweet bubbles to go with the treestars."

"Really?" Littlefoot asked his father excitedly, as the two slowly left the edge of the Valley…

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Talos silently walked over to the long, cylindrical tank where Shorty was being maintained, in his creature form. A mask connected to a tube was placed over the creature's mouth, as a warm, green liquid surrounded his body. He floated freely with his eyes closed, as the nano-meds inside the liquid worked on him.

Shorty's arm had completely regenerated hours ago thanks to this solution, as Talos was now checking diagrams of other new parts and upgrades, which the nano-meds were currently installing and downloading into his genetic makeup.

Once the work on Shorty had finished, he quickly, and automatically changed back into his original, longneck form. He still floated in the liquid, the mask over his muzzle now, as Talos hit a button, causing the liquid to drain from the tube.

He then opened the tube, and hefted Shorty over his right shoulder, gently removing the mask. Shorty was breathing comfortably, and asleep, as Talos then slowly carried him into a dimly lit room, setting him on a few soft cushions, made from a smooth, gelatinous substance.

The anesthesia that was being slowly fed to Shorty through the tube was now wearing off, causing the young longneck to yawn and slowly wake up. He opened his eyes slowly, and looked about the room, not able to make much sense of it, as of yet.

He was soon startled, however, by the sight of a large, mechanical being coming into the room. Its large, metal feet clanked along the surface of wherever Shorty was at the moment, as it stood several feet in height over him. It then gazed down at him, its long visor curving in an upward manner on both sides, a gentle red glow emenating from it.

"I'm glad to see you're finally on the mend…" The cyborg spoke to him, in a strong, but gentle male voice.

Shorty got up quickly, quite alarmed at this sight, as he tried to find a way out of…whatever this strange place was.

"Please don't be alarmed." The cyborg reassured him. "I know your early encounters with Talos, coupled with the attack from Lord Ipos have left you rather confused, but I can assure you that I truly mean you no harm."

Shorty struggled to catch his breath, and looked all around the room, seeing the control panels, and display screens showing all sorts of weird images.

"Wh…where am I?" He finally asked the cyborg.

"After you were injured, Talos used a portaling technique to bring you here…the E.A Science vessel, Dionysus…the only remaining ship of Erufit's once proud armada…"

"Erufit…" Shorty's mind suddenly raced back to Rita's introduction of Lord Ipos. "I've heard that name before…Rita mentioned something about it with that Ipos guy I fought…she said he had conquered it."

The Cyborg nodded slowly. "Yes…Many years ago, Prince Abbadon of Stolas tried to force my people into sharing some of our technologies with him, so that he could create better weapons. We refused however, wanting our technology to only serve the purpose of knowledge and defense…never for conquest."

Shorty just stood and listened as the cyborg continued. "Abbadon was angered by our refusal, and a short time later, he sent his strongest lord, Ipos, to destroy us. We had prepared ourselves of course, but we were not aware of the new weapon that Ipos had stolen from a planet called Remas, which allowed his ships to pierce our force fields like they were nothing…Ipos massacred my people in mere hours…all of them, including my beloved son, Astyanax…I was the only one lucky enough to escape, before Stolas' strip-mining vessels came and stole all of my planet's resources…leaving behind the shell you see…I now call this planet Mars…after the Erufitian word for 'corpse'."

The Cyborg pointed out into the window next to Shorty, letting him see the lifeless red planet that was not far from Earth…

"That's a sad story…" Shorty sighed…but then furrowed his brow, looking over at the strange creature. "But what does all this have to do with me?"

"Look upon my form, child…" The Cyborg then pressed a button on his chest, causing the metal plates on it to suddenly retract…Shorty looked inside to find another creature resting inside of the metal body…this one was amorphous…a spineless, boneless mass of red tissue, almost like a human brain, only not as wrinkled in appearance…long, red, vine-like tendrils extended from this mass, stretched and attached to many different parts, obviously controlling the metallic body from inside.

"This is the true form of an Erufitian…" The Cyborg's voice explained, as its chest slowly closed back up. "It is only through the study of mechanical integration that we were able to leave the center of the planet, and walk amongst other creatures."

Shorty nodded slowly as the Cyborg continued. "This is what led to the field in which I was a pioneer…the studies of Genetic design and Bio-mechanics. I was so good, in fact, that I came to be known by a special nickname…The Progenitor."

Shorty gasped as he heard those last two words. "You're him?" He walked a bit closer now. "I thought you'd be a bit more…"

"Scary?" The Progenitor finished his sentence for him. "I'm not surprised…there's no telling how much misinformation that RITA unit fed to you."

"So…" Shorty pieced everything together as he got even closer. "You're my…creator?"

The Progenitor nodded slowly. "That is correct…as you've probably heard already from Ipos, you are a unique variation among my other experiments, that I refer to as a Balaur…a special design that is mostly based in organic material, save for a few mechanical implants, such as the blades in your arms."

Shorty thought all of this over as best he could, before thinking of something else. "You…you seem like a good guy…so why is the creature I turn into so wild and mean all the time?"

"Like many young creatures…" The Progenitor answered. "A recently awakened experiment, especially a Balaur, can be very unpredictable and dangerous. This is why I usually establish a mind link with the subject once its genes have matured…this time, however, Lord Ipos was one step ahead of me…he had constructed a device that kept me out of your head…no doubt, Rita tried to tell you that this was for your protection…when in reality, it was making your situation all the more dangerous."

Shorty nodded slowly. "But why me?…Out of every other person out there in space…why me? Why a longneck from this world?"

"Shorty…" The Progenitor got down on one knee, putting his hand on his shoulder. "Your race, the longnecks, I found to be a very noble and strong breed…I thought that if any breed on that world deserved to have one of its own as a Balaur, it was that one."

"But there's another reason…Your world, at its core, is pure and good…but it is also vulnerable to the evil in this universe. Every experiment of mine is meant to be a representative and capable defender of its world of origin. I want to give every worthy race a weapon to fight back against Abbadon and his growing influence, so that what happened to my world…" He looked back at the dead, red planet. "Doesn't happen to anyone else's…"

Shorty nodded slowly. "So, what are you going to do with me now?"

"It's already been done." The Progenitor spoke as he rose back onto his metal feet. "While you were recovering from your wounds, Talos and I performed all the necessary upgrades and operations, to turn you into a full-fledged Balaur…our first new one in quite some time."

"That's right…" Talos spoke up as he entered the room. "And it's a good thing we were able to keep you alive for all of it…because we need you…your world needs you, even as we speak…"

"It does?" Shorty looked back to him.

"Yes, Shorty…" The Progenitor answered him. "I realize we're throwing you back into battle rather quickly, but we have a real opportunity here…you see, that creature Rita was controlling, Ornias…he's been a real thorn in the side of our campaign as of late…ever since he was created a short time ago, he's been responsible for the deaths of many of our brethren…your engineered brethren from multiple worlds…"

"But we now have him, and Lord Ipos in a tight spot…" Talos added. "Their craft doesn't have enough fuel to take them back to a Stolas command ship…they burned up too much in making their getaway from me earlier. They're going to attempt to contact a command ship from far away, which will be difficult…so now, they're stalling, while we now have the power of a Balaur, right by our side."

"I see…" Shorty spoke up. "We try and take them both out while they're stalling. I just don't know…I mean, when I think about how badly I got torn up by Ornias last time..."

"You are different from last time, Shorty…" The Progenitor reassured him. "Very different…Plus, you will not be alone. Talos will come with you, and I'm sure you'll both make a good team."

Shorty nodded as he looked up to Talos.

"Yeah…" Talos spoke up. "It'll be nice to fight alongside you for once…." Talos couldn't smile, but Shorty could sense a smile from inside of him, as he returned it to his new ally, and nodded.

"You now have full control over your new powers, Shorty…" The Progenitor added. "To access them, simply speak the following words… 'Bio-phase, activate.' "

Shorty nodded again, as he turned to face Talos now.

"Well, I'd better open a new portal, then…" He spoke, readying himself for it.

"That's correct…" The Progenitor nodded, before looking to Shorty. "I realize we're thrusting you back into battle rather quickly, but it's important that we act now…before Ipos gets any ideas about harming more of your people while he's there…"

Shorty breathed in and out heavily as he heard this, before looking out of a nearby window towards the earth, which the ship was now orbiting…

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"Everyone! Everyone!"

Cera yelled between her huffing and puffing as she ran into the center of the Valley. She had been out wandering around the outskirts, when she spotted something quite alarming. She was now returning to warn everybody she could.

"Cera? What's going on?" Littlefoot ran up to her, separating himself from his father and Mika, with his Grandparents in the background.

"I saw something…" she caught her breath as she stood. "Something big."

"Shorty?" Littlefoot asked, hopefully.

"No…" Cera shook her head. "Whatever this thing is, it's definitely not Shorty…"

Before she could elaborate, a fierce roar suddenly pierced into the land…everyone immediately turned their heads in the direction of the sound, as Ornias came tromping into the Valley, growiling. His arm was repaired, as Rita was attached to him once more, controlling his actions.

They were not alone either…lord Ipos was walking slowly behind them, his enormous broadsword resting over his shoulders as his right hand gripped the hilt. There were also two more remaining silver knights, from his personal guard, accompanying him with their staffs at the ready.

"Lower creatures of Earth…" Ipos called to all of them. "We gave one of your own a chance to aid and assist our glorious principality with the gift of his own life…but he has turned from that path, and has thus insulted me…by insulting me, he also insults his Highness, Prince Abbadon…a most unforgivable trespass"

"I've heard enough of this nonsense…" Topsy growled, as he stepped forward. "I suggest you leave now, before I force you all out…"

Ornias then suddenly reached out, and grabbed the Triceratops by the throat.

"Topsy!" Tria yelled out to him, frightened.

"Let his lordship finish, please…" Rita spoke, before having Ornias let him go.

"It is my judgment…" Ipos continued. "That your planet pays the penalty for this insult. Once the mighty fleet of Stolas arrives, you shall lay down your lives, and we shall harvest every piece of your rich world to nourish our growing empire." He brandished his sword as he looked over the group of dinosaurs. "Enjoy what time you have left in your puny lives…"

"I've heard enough!" Bron suddenly shouted, before he swung his tail over to smack Ipos. Ornias was quick to react, though, as he jumped out, and strongly grabbed the large appendage.

"You shall not touch his lordship!" Rita spoke again, as she then commanded Ornias to leap up, and punch Bron hard across the jaw.

"Dad!" Littlefoot shouted, as Bron fell to the ground and rolled a few feet. He was dazed, as Mika ran over to attend to him.

"Why you-" Littlefoot frowned, as he charged angrily at Ipos now, only to be met with Ornias' powerful hand.

The young longneck choked as Ornias growled, and lifted him off all four of his feet, still holding his neck.

"I shall make this insect my first offering to you, lordship…" Rita spoke once more, as Ornias tightened his grip on Littlefoot, getting ready to do something horrible with him.

"Bio-phase, activate!" A voice suddenly yelled in the distance.

Ipos slowly turned his head left to right, as Ornias snarled and looked all around, sniffing the air.

Seconds later, two sharp objects came flying out from nowhere. Ipos deflected two of them with his sword, as one of them quickly ripped through the right arm of one of the knights, severing it.

The knight yelled out in agony and clutched at his bleeding stump, before losing consciousness and falling over from blood loss. The other knight quickly turned, but was too late to react, as another sharp object suddenly shot right through his throat, going into one end, and out the other. The knight gagged and choked, clutching his throat as it gushed with more blood, before he lost his own consciousness…

The sight distracted Ornias, allowing something to quickly zoom past him, and slash him across the chest. He yelped and let go of Littlefoot, as his wound bled profusely, before quickly healing.

The figure that attacked him finally stopped, with its back turned to him. The new rocket gliders on its armored heels powered down, as it turned to face Ornias and Ipos slowly.

The basic outline of the figure was unmistakable…it was Shorty, in the form of the creature. He was different this time, though. On top of his green flesh, there were now pieces of shiny silver armor. Gauntlets were now on his hands and wrists, with boots on his feet, as his entire upper torso was also covered in an impressive silver chest plate.

His menacing face was almost covered completely now, save for his eyes, by an ornate silver and green painted helmet. The mouth section was part of a new breathing apparatus, with tubes that connected from the mouth to a section of the chest plate. It was part of a new system, the perpetual breathing of chemical vapors designed to sustain the creature's form, and keep it at optimum strength. There was also a symbol, a red circle with tiny Erufitian writing on it, in the middle of the helmet's forehead…the writing translated to "raging spirit".

"You…" Ipos growled under his own helmet, recognizing the creature.

"I am no longer your pawn, Ipos…" Shorty spoke under his new helmet, with the help of a microphone installed on the inside. "I have finally realized what my life has built up to now…"

He extracted the new, reinforced blades on his arms, as he got into a fighting stance. "I am the child of the Progenitor…a child of light…a defender of all that is good and pure in the universe…."

He swung his blades, as they made an even more impressive whooshing sound through the air. "You know me as Shorty, but I have now been reborn with a second name…I am Astyanax, The Balaur!" He shouted his name for his alternate form, as he posed with the blades once again, having picked the name for his alternate form as a tribute to the Progenitor's slain son.

Everyone, including Littlefoot, watched in awe, as Ipos looked over to Ornias, who was stalling at the moment.

"What are you waiting for?" Ipos asked him, and Rita. "Prove yourselves worthy of your service to me…"

Ornias nodded slowly, as he growled, and faced down the new Balaur.

"You should not have returned…" Rita warned Shorty, as he stayed silent, getting ready to strike…

Stay tuned! I've got one big climactic battle coming up, next chapter!


	8. Always Another Opponent

Ornias lunged at the Balaur, prompting him to suddenly rush away on his rocket boosters once more, carrying himself behind the

Ornias lunged at the Balaur, prompting him to suddenly rush away on his rocket boosters once more, carrying himself behind the creature. Ornias then rushed back to the Balaur's other location, taking another swipe at him, only to have his form zip away once more.

Ornias then growled in frustration, as Rita had a hard time keeping control of him at this point. He smelled blood, and it made him angry not to taste it. This allowed the Balaur the chance to strike, as he zipped away, then launched himself in from Ornias' right side.

Ornias had little time to realize what was happening, as the Balaur swung one of his reinforced blades, and cut a deep, bleeding gash into his abdomen. The Balaur's attacks were no longer those of a wild, unthinking beast…he was now cold, calculating, and effective, all a part of his new programming.

Rita steadied Ornias as he roared in pain, and clutched his stomach, the robotic wasp supplying nanomeds, that quickly closed the wound up. He then turned and faced down the Balaur once again, roaring as the two cannons once again grew on his shoulders, firing them quickly.

All the dinosaurs watched in awe, as the Balaur simply held up his left arm, and caught the powerful blast in his other blade, absorbing the energy as his weapon now glowed. He then swung his arm swiftly, and sent the power back as a wave of deadly force, cutting through the form of Ornias.

The monster shrieked in pain as several of his limbs were cut in the process, and on the verge of falling off. Rita pumped more nanomeds to prevent, giving the Balaur an opening, as he rushed in and retracted his blades. He punched Ornias hard across the face, sending one of his metal teeth flying.

"That was for my arm!" The Balaur shouted, before bringing up his right foot, and nailing Ornias in the chest with a hard, standing sidekick.

Ornias fell back and growled loudly, before holding out his hands, and producing metal stalks, which pushed out of the palms. They squished out audibly, before splitting out into six sharp blades on each hand…the blades then began to spin, like saws.

The Balaur dodged Ornias as he swiped downward with his right palm, and then brought in his left. The Balaur caught his arm, and held it tightly as Ornias brought down his right palm, and started cutting into his back.

The Balaur shouted out in pain as some green blood began to spurt from the wound, before he stomped on Ornias' left foot with one of his heavy boots. Ornias yelped, as Shorty then backhanded him in the face with his left fist.

Ornias stepped back and roared out again in frustration, the blades still spinning on his hands as he lunged in for another attack. Shorty was ready with his blades this time

He crossed his arms as he lunged at the same time, slashing them back out when he was close enough, and severing the blades on Ornias' palms. A split second afterward, his right shoulder slammed into the creature's abdomen, tackling him as he pulled the blades back into his wrists.

After rolling with him a few times, Shorty then mounted the creature, and began to bash away at him with his right fist, almost getting lost in the rage that made up the creature he had been before. Ornias felt each blow of the fist cut into his flesh, making his own blood spurt out from the left side of his face.

He then roared as he then reached up and grabbed Shorty's arm, pulling it down and sinking his teeth into the exposed part of his wrist. Shorty growled and yelled out in pain as he felt this, extracting the blade on his left arm.

"Not gonna be so easy this time!" He yelled, as he then rammed his left blade into Ornias' stomach. Ornias yelped, and spit up blood, letting go of Shorty's right arm as Shorty worked the blade into his midsection, trying to find his spinal column.

Shorty then felt something hard hit him in the back of the head…

Shorty grunted and stopped, as Lord Ipos sprung into action…he had just smacked him in the head with the hilt of his sword, as he then followed it up with a kick to Shorty's back, making him roll off his opponent.

"It is clear that you are unable to finish this yourself…" Ipos growled at Ornias. "Rise, and at least make yourself a decent minion…"

Rita wanted to protest, but knew that such a thing was futile…she gave Ornias the command to get up, as the creature complied.

Shorty got back onto one knee, just in time to see Ipos run in and slash his sword down towards him. He rolled out of the way, as the blade slammed into the earth with great force, cutting a deep gash into the rocks below.

Ipos effortlessly pulled the sword back out, and swung it over his head a few times, building up steam for another swing. Shorty prepared himself to dodge again, before something else suddenly flew in, and smacked Ipos in his sword hand.

Ipos grunted and fell back, as everyone turned to see Talos running onto the scene.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Talos rushed to Shorty's side. "I had to finish some adjustments to my weapon systems…"

"Apology accepted!" Shorty shouted, dodging a lunging attack from Ornias this time, as Talos distracted Ipos with a running jump kick, making him block with his large sword.

"I've got this guy covered!" Talos shouted to his new partner. "You take care of Ornias!"

Shorty didn't have time to respond, as he took a swipe at Ornias with one of his blades. Ornias responded by using his strong legs to leap a great distance from Shorty, landing on a rock about 30 feet away. He then growled, and launched Rita from his wrist, tethered to a wire that kept him under her control.

Shorty growled, and swung at Rita as she flew in towards him. She dodged swiftly, and flew to the back of his neck, stinging him, and sending an electric shock through his body.

Shorty yelled out loud as he felt the shock going through him, giving Ornias the chance to attack as he jumped and flew towards him. Rita stung him several more times, adding to his pain, as Ornias finally got close enough to nail him in the chest with a hard left kick at the last second.

As Shorty rolled and tumbled along the ground, Ornias savored the moment, Rita coming back onto his wrist as he slowly walked towards the downed Balaur, who was now sprawled out on his back above the earth.

"You dinosaurs are such a primitive, simple-minded lot…" Rita spoke. "Thank heavens I can finally kill you, and leave this disgusting cesspool of a world…" Ornias then extracted another spinning blade on his palm, as he growled, and made his move…

A tail then suddenly swung in from out of nowhere, and smashed into the distracted Ornias' belly, sending the creature flying, until he landed hard onto his head, and rolled a few feet before laying on his stomach, not moving.

Shorty caught his breath, before he looked up to see Bron looking down at him.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help you before…" Bron spoke, regretfully thinking of when Shorty was kicked out of the herd. "But I'm here for you now, and always will be…son."

Shorty's covered face didn't show, but he was very touched by that comment. He slowly nodded his head in acknowledgement of his adoptive father. He then heard the growling of Ornias, struggling back onto his feet, before he immediately took advantage.

He set his feet, and threw out his right arm, making the blade shoot out, with an organic looking cord attached to it. Ornias had little time to react, before the blade impaled him right through the chest, making him roar in pain as his blood leaked out around the wound.

Shorty grabbed the cord with his left hand, and readied himself for another move, as Ornias struggled futilely to remove the blade from his chest. Shorty then suddenly leapt high into the air, and pulled on the cord, making Ornias fly up right towards him.

In mid-air, just when Ornias was close enough, Shorty let him have it with a hard slash from his left blade. The blade cut through the creature's body diagonally, from his right shoulder, all the way down to his left hip. Quickly after that, Shorty nailed him with a hard front kick to his chest.

Ornias' body immediately split in two upon the impact of the Balaur's foot, blood and alien organs spilling out onto the earth in a gory shower as the two sections of the body hit the earth and tumbled, the impact bringing up many dust and leaves into the air.

Shorty then gracefully landed onto the earth, his knees bending as he crouched for a moment, his right blade pulling back into his arm swiftly. He then got up slowly, and walked towards one of the two halves of Ornias' body.

Rita had busted one of her wings, due to Ornias' arm hitting the ground repeatedly, and could not fly away from her opponent.

"Shorty…" Rita spoke, desperately. "Shorty, don't…"

Shorty reached down, and picked up the wounded metal wasp slowly.

"You're going to destroy me?…" Rita spoke again. "After all I did for you?"

Shorty paused for a moment…then nodded.

"Yup…"

With that, he tore Rita in half, wires snapping and sparkling, as a metallic whine echoed in her body, signaling her powering down.

At the same time, Talos was still dodging the swings of Lord Ipos' large sword, firing his laser weapon whenever he could. Ipos deflected each blast with his blade, slowly backing his opponent up against a tree.

Talos tried to get himself out of the predicament, by catching Ipos' wrists as he brought the sword down once more. It partially cut into him, but he endured the pain, and struggled with his masked enemy. Eventually, he gained the upper hand, and made Ipos toss the blade, sending it twirling into the air.

Talos then lunged in with his right fist, only to have it caught by Ipos' strong left hand, as the sword began to fall back down towards the two. After pulling Talos' right arm away from him slowly, Ipos countered with a quick right hand, nailing him in the chest with a hard straight punch.

Talos fell back against the tree again, as Ipos caught the sword just in time as it fell, and plunged the blade right into Talos' mid-section.

Shorty gasped at what he saw…he was running onto the scene, trying to help his partner, but he was too late. Talos grunted and growled in pain as blood seeped out around the sword.

"Back to the depths of Arnor with you, cretin…" Ipos growled, as he withdrew a knife and slowly aimed it for a section of Talos' chest…he apparently knew his one weakness, and was about to exploit it.

But Shorty would have none of that, as he wordlessly rushed in, bringing the rocket boosters on his feet to full power.

With a force that even surprised him, he tackled Lord Ipos, sending him away from Talos as he rolled backwards from the blow and got up onto his knees. This allowed Talos the time to reach down and grab the blade that impaled him, slowly pulling it out.

Ipos stood slowly to face Shorty down, the sun reflecting off his smooth black mask.

"I know what you aim to accomplish…" he spoke calmly. "You think you have me at a tactical disadvantage by challenging me before my fleet can arrive…" He then looked over and saw what remained of Ornias.

"You even managed to destroy a very powerful minion of mine…but no matter." He cradled the knife he had in his right hand, behind his back. "You may possess the powers of a Balaur…but you still lack the experience of a true warrior."

He then tossed the knife at Shorty, making him block it with his right blade. He jumped into the air as Shorty deflected the knife, and hit him with an impressive right kick. Shorty grunted and fell onto his back from the blow, as Ipos landed, and retrieved his sword, which was now next to the recovering Talos.

"For the sake of my master, I do intend to kill you…" Ipos spoke, matter-of-factly. "But I shall give you the chance to test your mettle with me in the process…it's what separates creatures like you from civilized beings like myself." He then picked up his sword, and got into a challenging stance, holding out the blade.

Shorty rose slowly, and looked straight ahead at Ipos. "Civilized?…If being civilized means wiping out entire worlds like Erufit for your own gain, then I'm glad I'm separate from you!"

He then clashed both of his blades together, and activated a device that made the two combine…he pulled them both out of his arms, and detached the cords as they melded together and grew out, creating another impressive sword. He then stood near Ipos, and got into a similar stance, the two opposing blades facing each other.

Shorty made the first move, spinning once and swinging for Ipos' right side with the sword. Ipos expertly parried the move, and knocked him away with a firm left shoulder.

Shorty stumbled back a few feet, as Ipos countered with a swing of his own, directed to his shoulder. Shorty brought up his blade, and caught it before it could do any damage. However, he was not too skilled in the realm of swordplay, as the force of the clash made him struggle to keep his sword up, opening up his chest and head. Ipos capitalized, and made a quick swing with his blade towards the left side of Shorty's neck. Shorty quickly moved to keep it from taking off his head, but the tip of the sword still managed to make its mark, putting a deep scratch in his mask.

Shorty then ducked, and swung his blade once again, moving to take out Ipos' legs. Ipos simply brought his sword down, and stopped the attack as the blades clashed. He then kicked Shorty in the chest, and threw him off balance as he swung the blade around once, and threw it down towards his right side. Shorty quickly brought up his blade with one hand to stop this, but the force of the clash sent his weapon flying out of the same hand, leaving him defenseless.

Ipos growled happily under his mask as he held the sword in both hands, pointing the tip down at Shorty. "Just as I thought…nothing more than a savage with toys…"

He then prepared to thrust his weapon into Shorty's heart, before another tail suddenly came out to smack him. His reflexes kicked in as he caught the tail, leaving Shorty to see that it wasn't Bron this time.

"Mika!"

"Don't you kill him!" Mika shouted, protecting Shorty as if he was her own.

"You are in a position to demand nothing from me…" Ipos grunted, before he quickly took out a knife and plunged it into her tail's end. Mika yelled out in pain.

"NO!" Shorty yelled, as he then shot out one of his cords to where the sword lay, hoping to get a grip with it. He lucked out, as the end of it wrapped around the blade. He used all his strength to fling the sword over in Ipos' direction.

Ipos had little time to react to this maneuver, as the hit of the sword smacked into the smooth black visor of his mask, cracking it. He immediately backed off, and began to feel around the glasslike material.

"That's it!" Talos suddenly realized, clutching his slowly healing stomach as he looked quickly over at Shorty. "The helmet! Break his helmet!"

Shorty nodded, as he rushed over, and caught the distracted Ipos with a punch to his stomach. Bron attended to his wounded lover, as Ipos tried to counter with a punch of his own, only to have it dodged by Shorty, who landed another punch with his left fist. He then grabbed Ipos by the back of his neck, and kicked him right on his right leg, making him fall to one knee.

Shorty then followed it up with a very hard right uppercut to Ipos' helmet, making it shatter everywhere on the front.

Ipos fell onto his stomach as the back part of his helmet fell off, revealing a short mane of dark hair…He breathed heavily as he rose, and turned to face his opponent with wide eyes. His face was grey, and humanoid, although with a slightly flatter nose.

"Look what you've done…" he growled. Just as he raised his sword once again, the thunderous roar of his fleet entering the orbit of the planet interrupted. Ipos glowered for a moment, picked up what remained of his helmet, and looked over at Shorty and waving his sword at him slowly.

"I shall not forget this…" he spoke lowly as a transport came for him to the valley. "Treasure your remaining days, because you have just earned yourself a painful, slow, and bloody death…I promise you…" With that he stepped onto the low-flying transport, and shot back up towards his fleet. Within moments, the ships all turned, and flew away.

"What was that all about?" Shorty was left to wonder as he walked towards Talos.

"What you just did, was exploit an integral part of the culture of Stolas…" Talos explained. "See, there's a reason why Lord Ipos wore that mask all the time…in their society, it's considered taboo for one to show his true face to an enemy or a foreigner. That's why very few people outside of Stolas know what a true Stolian looks like.

"I see…" Shorty nodded. "So what's gonna happen to him now?"

Talos looked back up to the sky. "He'll have to go before his master, Prince Abbadon, and submit to the ritual disfiguration of his face with a blade, as penance for his sin."

"Ouch…" Shorty winced a bit, as he willingly changed back to his original form. "Still, serves the guy right, I have to say."

The slow realization of where Shorty was sunk into him as he returned to his familiar, longneck form. He turned his head slowly and saw a familiar sight…Bron, Mika, Grandma, Grandpa, and Littlefoot all gazed at him, Littlefoot's other friends also slowly gathering once the coast was clear.

Shorty said nothing, and watched as Littlefoot, the first one of his age to ever reach out to him, slowly approach…he noticed fear in Littlefoot's eyes, but not fear of his new form.

"Please…" Littlefoot spoke gently. "Please don't run away this time, Shorty."

Shorty shook his head slowly. "I'm right here…" he responded. "Although I'm not quite as you remember me."

"I don't care…" Littlefoot gave him a stern look as he walked closer. "Do you remember when you were about to run away the first time, and I told you that I thought we could be like brothers?…"

Shorty nodded slowly in response.

"I still see you as a brother, Shorty…I mean that." Littlefoot's voice became more emotional. "Nothing you do or become is going to sway me from thinking that way."

Shorty stifled his own emotion as best he could, before responding. "You have no idea how much hearing you say that means to me now…especially after all I've been through…brother."

Littlefoot's eyes went wide. This was the first time he had ever heard Shorty refer to him as a brother.

"However…" Shorty continued. "There's something here that we need to acknowledge, you especially…I am Shorty, but I'm also Astyanax….and I want it that way."

"You do?" Littlefoot looked confused. "Even after all the horrible stuff that Dad told me about?"

Shorty nodded. "Do you remember when I failed the big longneck test that you had passed? It made me wonder whether my existence served any kind of a purpose…if I was ever meant to do something important for others…and now I realize…I do have a purpose…it may not have been exactly what I had in mind, but it's there, nonetheless."

Littlefoot's friends gathered around him as he looked to him quizzically. "So, what are you going to do now?" Cera spoke up.

"I have a job to do…with Talos and the Progenitor." Shorty responded. "There are other worlds, many of them suffering because of guys like the ones I just defeated today…and I'm gonna bring them the happiness that we all get to have here, in this valley."

"That sounds like a noble cause, indeed." Grandma smiled as she stepped forward, and leaned down to nuzzle Shorty. She had always been rather fond for the boy, even if he was a bit rough around the edges. "I wish you luck on your journey, Shorty."

"Thanks, Grandma." Shorty smiled, as Grandpa nudged him too.

"I've heard some unique stories in my day…" Grandpa told him. "But I think that yours may prove to be the most amazing this world has ever seen."

Shorty nodded with a smile…before looking and walking slowly over to Bron. Bron leaned in and gave Shorty a slow nuzzle, as Shorty closed his eyes.

"Thank you…" He almost whispered to Bron. "Thank you for taking me in."

"It was one of the best decisions I ever made…" Bron responded, as a single tear collected in his eye. Mika smiled as she leaned in and nuzzled Shorty as well.

"You take care of them, ok?" Shorty smiled as he returned Mika's affections.

"Will do…" Mika smiled at him warmly.

Shorty then slowly walked away, and gently spoke. "Bio-phase…activate."

Within seconds, he became the balaur once more, turning to face everyone as Talos waved goodbye, and teleported away.

"I'll never forget any of you…" he spoke under his helmet. "And I promise you all, I shall return one day…" With that, the boosters on his feet adjusted, and ignited, propelling him high into the blue sky…everyone looked up and watched as he rocketed off into the stars…

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A young, female threehorn stood silently in the middle of a smooth, stone circle, overlooking the crashing waves of the big water. Her eyes were closed, deep in some form of meditation, until she heard the footsteps of an oncoming adult.

She turned to see the white-skinned, red-eyed male threehorn who had raised her, walking slowly with a solemn look on his face.

"What has happened?" She enquired, curiously.

"We have lost an ally, and another has been dishonored." The male responded. "The balaur has realized his full potential…and thus, the time for you to act has nearly come "

"Excellent." The girl smiled, looking back out towards the big water. "When might I make my first move?

"All in good time…" The threehorn's eyes, buzzed for a second, almost revealing that his form was not organic, but mechanical, as the eye of a camera watched the girl from an unknown distance. "We must wait until he reaches his next planet…he must not know that you came from the same world as him…"

The girl nodded slowly as she gazed out at the horizon.

"Just as this Balaur has found his purpose…so shall I…"

END OF BOOK I

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I'd like to thank all of you who took the time to read and review Book I of this story, which I have now titled BOOK I : UNWELCOME GENESIS. Watch this spot for the development of BOOK II : EYES OF THE SERAPHIM.

Stay tuned.


	9. Prologue to Book II

Some time ago…before the events of book I …

Here's a little prologue for Book two…I borrowed a few ideas for this book from the game Devil May Cry 4, which is property of Capcom, and not mine.

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Some time ago…before the events of book I …

Morning crept over the canyon…the dead, barren canyon, in the lands that some of the bravest sharpteeth would not dare stray into. All that now lived in this area were insects…and skeletons. Bones from many different skeletons populated and intermingled in the area, creating quite a diversity of death.

This was not always a barren land, though…it was once home to many different dinosaurs…among them, Littlefoot's family, even. It was very much a shell of its former self, a land not much different from the great valley, before the volcanoes and earthshakes…particularly the great earthshake where Littlefoot's mother died, ripped it to shreds.

The saddest fact of all, however, were the number of young, small skeletons, that lay alongside the remains of the adults…spry, juvenile dinosaurs, all robbed of their chance to live life…all died never knowing the gentle light and safety of the great valley.

Dust crawled in the wind over the bottom of the canyon, lightly blowing a few lighter bones over the rocky floor. It provided the only activity that this disorganized cemetery usually knew…but today, something unusual was about to happen.

A few bones suddenly began to move in one area…not carried by wind, but by an unknown force that had somehow made its way into the canyon. Several others soon joined these few, defying the laws of gravity, as they rolled up along an upraised section of a floor.

They all headed for a single skull on the floor…the skull of a young threehorn.

The bones soon settled into the spot, and slowly began to organize themselves. More dust blew over the bones, as they cracked, and snapped into place as they found their proper spots. What little organic material remained on the joints soon began to multiply, making strings of muscle and blood vessel spread from each of the joints, and encircle all of the bones slowly…

The forming tissue began to form an outline of the body that used to encase the skeleton, as more tissue went inside of the outline, and began to reform all the internal organs slowly. The outlining tissue covered this activity within seconds, and began to solidify into muscle mass.

The child's head slowly raised, as the body was still without skin…the child then took a gentle breath with its eyes still closed, and slowly exhaled…from the sound of the exhalation, the child was female, as her body slowly grew a covering of orange skin under the sunlight.

The threehorn girl slowly opened her eyes…her vision was blurry, very blurry, as the fluids in her eyes still tried to organize properly. The sights around her swirled, as she remained laying down on the rock, feeling very disoriented.

The visions in her eyes finally settled, leaving her free to fully observe the area where she had perished in her previous life. She saw the bones around her, heard the wind blowing, and could even smell the death in the air…but she could remember nothing.

She rolled onto her side and breathed again, sighing gently, as she looked ahead and saw another skeleton…this one was clearly an adult, as it was much larger than the other bones that were strewn around her body. She felt drawn to this particular corpse, for some reason, as she stared into where its eyes had been for what seemed like an eternity.

It was then that she began to hear voices in her head…the frantic sounds of an adult female, telling her children to run…the ever-present rumble of an earthshake…the screaming of children…and the roaring of sharpteeth.

She closed her head and grunted, trying to get this noise out of her head, but failing. Then like a sudden spark in her brain cells, she suddenly began to remember…just little bits and pieces, but from them, she was able to put the general idea of what had happened together.

She rolled back onto her stomach, and looked sadly down at the smaller bones around her…she now realized that they were all that remained of her sisters. She then looked over to the corpse of the adult, and breathed heavily with emotion.

"Mother…" she exhaled, speaking her first words in quite some time, as she closed her eyes. The reality of her loneliness sank in, as a single tear ran down her cheek, mourning the loss of her entire family…nothing more now than casualties of the sharpteeth…those murderers, she thought to herself.

This last thought was what began to fuel the girl, as she felt her new life force coursing through her. Shakily, she brought her right front leg up, and began to push herself up on it, trying to get her other legs to contribute slowly. Steadily, she raised herself up onto limbs that had not been utilized for some time, willing her body out of atrophy one step at a time.

Her activity, and the return of her scent, caught the attention of a scavenger…a lone sharptooth, close to the extended graveyard. It turned and growled hungrily as it tracked her down with its large nose, sniffing around in the air as its feet tromped through the fields of bones.

The threehorn girl struggled to lift herself out of the canyon, as she heard the growling…she wondered how, as the sharptooth she spotted was a long way off, but she heard it nonetheless.

As the sharptooth turned and roared at her, part of her wanted to run, like the days of old…but there was something else in her too…a hatred…an intense hatred…she didn't remember much of her past life, but she knew somehow that sharpteeth were responsible for the death of her, and her family…she couldn't ignore this burning energy within her, no matter how much bigger the sharptooth was.

The sharptooth readied itself for a chase, before being presented with something it had not anticipated…the threehorn girl was now running towards it…almost as if she was presenting herself as a meal…at least that's how the sharptooth saw it.

The girl ran and ran with an increasing force in her step, tapping into an inner strength she never knew she had, grimacing angrily at the sharptooth…the giant lizard stood his ground, unimpressed, as he roared and brought his head down, opening his large mouth as she got closer…

What happened next was an absolute shock to the sharptooth…As he bent down, the threehorn girl ran under its jaw, and jumped into the air, shrieking in hatred as she headbutted its stomach. The headbutt sent a tremendous amount of power into the sharptooth, sending it flying into the air…the sharptooth squealed in surprise as it found itself hurtling through the air, before landing into a big pile of bones below. It hit its head hard on a rock as well, knocking it into unconsciousness.

The threehorn girl breathed slowly as she took a moment to realize what she had just done…she had just beaten a creature that was 10 times her size, like it was nothing…she analyzed the situation further…the moment when she hit the creature, she felt some kind of flash come over her…and for that split second, she felt like she had become…something else…

"What's happened to me?" she quietly asked herself.

"You've been given a new life, child…" A deep male voice responded behind her.

The girl turned quickly, to see the form of an albino Threehorn walking towards her. His eyes were blood red, as he gazed upon the new prodigy with interest.

"I suppose you have million questions to ask now…" He spoke again. "I may not have all million answers for you…but I shall do my best."

The girl narrowed her eyes, feeling uneasy, but standing her ground…she figured he may be the only one who could give her any at all information.

"Who are you…my father?"

The adult shook his head. "No…my name is Agnus, and I am to be your guide."

"Guide?" The girl gave him a funny look. "What could you possibly offer me guidance for?"

"I understand that you're confused now…" Agnus persevered as he walked closer. "But there are certain things I can tell you…like why you've been brought back from the dead…and why you were just able to defeat a sharptooth by yourself…"

"All right…" the girl nodded slowly. "Why am I alive, then?"

"You have been chosen, young one…chosen to be the first of a new breed…" Agnus walked around her slowly. "A breed that will eventually end the destructive war with dark forces that rages on in worlds beyond this one…"

"What are you talking about?" The girl looked herself over. "I still look like a normal threehorn…"

"No, child…" Agnus shook his head again. "Only on the surface do you resemble your former self…but deep down, you are Prince Abadon's secret creation…the answer to the plague of the Progenitor…you are a Seraphim."

The girl shook her head quickly and sighed. "You're getting way too strange on me, sir…" She began to walk off. "Goodbye."

"Where will you go?" Agnus shot back to her. "Hm?…with your mother dead, your sisters dead, and your father nowhere to be found?…any other relatives you can recall?"

The girl froze as she kept her back turned to him.

"I'm all you have now, Child…" Agnus spoke more tenderly this time. "I'd hate to see you turn me away for a life of solitude…a life without meaning…"

The girl looked over at the canyon, where the remains of her mother and sisters were…a single tear ran down her cheek once more, before she slowly turned back to Agnus…

"Very well…" She lowered her head, as she walked towards him, waiting for him to lead the way.

Agnus nodded as he turned and walked down a path, with the girl following behind.

"Don't be sad, child…" Agnus spoke comfortingly. "Soon you'll learn how to harness your new abilities, and a whole universe of opportunities will open up to you…in no time at all, this barren land will become a distant memory to you…you'll see."

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Kyrie went over those last words of Agnus in her mind as she sat peacefully by the Big Water once more…Kyrie was the name given to the threehorn girl, after not being able to remember her old one.

Indeed that first day of her new life did seem like a distant memory…she had learned so much since then. She had learned about Stolas, and the culture of the people, who often hid their faces from foreigners…and about the emergence of the Progenitor, and the threat his creations posed to every world, including her own.

She heard the footsteps of Agnus behind her once more, as she turned to look at him.

"The Progenitor has made his move against the planet of Udlow, the long time ally of Stolas." He announced to her.

"Has he sent in the Balaur?" She asked him, almost eagerly.

"He has…" Agnus nodded. "Thus, the time has come to make yourself known to our enemies…"

"Excellent…" She tried not to smile too much as she rose onto all fours, looking towards the sky.

"May the gods smile upon you, Kyrie…" Agnus spoke once more, invoking the gods of Stolian mythology.

Kyrie nodded slowly, before her form suddenly changed in a flash…

The few dinosaurs in the area looked up to see an unusual form taking to the skies…It was the shape of a humanoid female, covered in white plumage with blue skin underneath…horns protruded from her head, the face still retaining the basic shape of her threehorn state, only with blue skin and glowing yellow eyes.

She carried a large golden sword in her right hand, with an ornate shield attached to her left wrist…her long tail flowed behind her, as did the talons of her feet, while her impressive white and gold wings carried her to the very top of the world.

As she entered the vast darkness of space, her wings morphed, glowing with a firey golden force, as she took off at an incredible speed, headed towards her first planet away from earth…and towards her first mission for Prince Abbadon.


	10. Encounter at Udlow

Lord Ipos strolled slowly down the great hall of the capital city of Stolas, known as Ackanges

Lord Ipos strolled slowly down the great hall of the capital city of Stolas, known as Ackanges. Lined along his path were rows of masked soldiers, The prince's personal guard…they all turned their backs on him as he passed them, one by one.

Ipos' mask was still off, his head hung in shame, as he looked up slowly, ever so slowly, towards the regal figure sitting at the end of the path, resting on a large golden throne, with the images of magnificent animals of the planet carved into it.

Like a stoic god, the figure of Prince Abadon gazed over the approach of his disgraced lord. His head was covered in a mask made of the finest gold and platinum, lacking the dark visor that many of his subordinate's helmets had.

His eyes were visible, which was also acceptable in Stolian culture, as the face of the mask was carved as well with a precision laser…the golden face had a very stoic, and neutral look about it, as was to be expected of royalty. He sat dressed in a white uniform, his form currently draped with a golden, furry robe, like a much fancier version of the robe that Ipos had over his own body.

The Prince stood as Ipos walked up to the base of the throne, and kneeled slowly, the other warriors also kneeling out of respect for their lord.

Abadon then slowly descended the throne's stairway, his eyes fixed on Ipos as if he were one of the gods himself, about to pass judgement. He slowly reached into his side, and pulled out a ceremonial dagger with a golden hilt.

"Lord Ipos…" his calm, deep voice spoke from within his mask. "For many years you have carried my standard through the universe with great success…" He then raised the knife, for all to see. "But today, you return to us, as a great disappointment to me, and a disgrace among your own people…"

Ipos kept his head down as he kneeled before the prince, who walked closer to him. "I am truly sorry, my lord…" He closed his eyes slowly.

"Are you prepared to pay the penalty for this trespass?" Abadon asked him, bringing the knife closer to his face.

"I am…" Ipos responded, preparing himself.

Abadon nodded slowly, and brought the knife to the left side of his face…slowly, he drew the blade across his flesh, cutting deep and leaving a trail of blood. Ipos winced slightly, but kept to his strength and made no cries of pain.

Abadon then cut into Ipos' right cheek, leaving a similar blood trail, before finally making one final cut along the center of his chin. He then finished his work, and cleaned the knife with a kerchief he kept handy.

"Your penance has been paid…" Abadon spoke once more. "Rise, and begin your path to redemption…"

"Yes, sire…" Ipos nodded slowly, his face still bleeding as he rose to his feet. Eventually, the wounds on his face would set, and become permanent scars, the shameful mark of his disgrace for showing his face to an enemy. He then reached over and picked up his new helmet, which a servant was holding near him.

Ipos' face was written with deep anger as he slipped the helmet on…from there he made a silent vow, to find the Balaur, and exact revenge for his current condition…one way or another, this vile creature was going to die by his sword.

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A great force shot though the darkness of space, the flames of propulsion jets in its boots sending at an incredible speed, exceeding that of even certain fighter craft in the Stolian fleet.

Shorty had moved into his new life as a Balaur rather easily, much quicker than even the Progenitor himself had expected. It seemed bizarre to himself, and everyone around him…but for the first time in his life, he felt like he made a lot of sense to this universe. He had grown never knowing of a mother to raise him, or a father, until Bron came along.

But ever since he got over what he once saw as a painful time in his life, he was now filled with a whole new sense of worth…he mattered…not just to those who knew him on earth, but to those who would soon know him throughout the galaxy.

His armor had just gotten a new paint job, reinforcing the green and silver reflective glow. He had also done some work on his helmet, as he felt his first one was too sterile…the mouth section of the helmet now displayed painted teeth with blood dripping off of them, and accented the eye-pieces with black and yellow paint, giving his outer face a rather menacing death-grin.

He swooped past a few oncoming asteroids, practicing his flight skills, until he heard the voice of his master echo in his ear.

"Are you done with your exercises, child?" The Progenitor asked him, sounding a little impatient.

"Yes, master…" Shorty responded as he floated still in space now. "Sorry if I took too long."

"Do not despair…" The Progenitor answered. "You may have gone slightly off course, but you are still a mere meters away from your destination."

"Oh right…Udlow." Shorty had been exercising to take his mind off the stress of travelling far outside of his own solar system, coupled with the heavy mission that he had been charged with.

"That is correct, Shorty…the Udlan rebels have nearly breached the fortress of the Stolian-backed Chancellor, and are well on the way to freeing their world from Abbadon's grasp. You shall descend to the surface to make certain that this happens."

"Why do I need to go down there if they're about to win, anyway?" Shorty asked.

"Because the Chancellor has a couple of powerful warriors, on loan from Abbadon…" His master responded. "If the rebels try to take them on by themselves, they'll all be obliterated in mere minutes…they need the power of the Balaur on their side."

"Understood…" Shorty nodded to himself slowly. "I'll contact you again if I survive all this."

"You are capable of much more than you know, Astyanax…" The Progenitor reassured him, as he referred to Shorty by his Balaur name. "May the spirits of Erufit be with you."

Shorty then felt his comm.-link separate, as he took a big breath, and sped towards the surface of the planet…

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On the surface of Udlow, the rebels were laying waste to the capital city, and Pro-Stolian Stronghold. The silver-faced centurions of the Chancellor's personal guard stood their ground with their plasma spears and blasters, but their legions were fast crumbling under the blaster fire of the rag-tag humanoid rebels.

The Rebels, also known as the "Rage of Klajin" (Named after the last native Udlan Chancellor), had also stolen some Stolian fighter craft, and were bombing many of the city's last major defense systems against them. Ground troops, many of whom had also stolen the armor of the colonial officials, ran towards the outer defenses of the Chancellor's fortress, wielding the same plasma spears.

It was then that Agares, one of the powerful Stolian warriors who protected the Chancellor made his entrance. He was a towering monster of a man, the result of experiments with numerous enhancement drugs and hormone therapy. His muscular body didn't have much armor on it, as a long silver mask, resembling the face of a stoic, bearded man, covered his face. He carried a frighteningly large battle-axe, which only he could lift.

Slipping out next to Agares was the other Stolian warrior, known as Danjal. Danjal was shorter than Agares, but was an even more fearsome sight. He was a Stolian, but he lacked a helmet. His twisted face bore numerous scars, some of which he inflicted on himself out of an odd, perverse pleasure. Many of his natural teeth had been ripped out, and replaced with sharp, metal ones. His fingers were chopped down to stubs, and replaced with long, razor-sharp blades, fused right to the bones of his hands.

With a bone-chilling howl, Danjal made his first strike at the rebels, wasting no time. He leapt onto the chest of one fighter, and jammed his right hand claws into his face. The warrior screamed and fell back, as Danjal pulled the claws out, and stuck them in again…and again…and again…blood spewed freely from the face of the corpse, as Danjal then gouged, and pulled out his eyes…he kept them skewered on his claws for a moment, before he licked them and tossed them away.

"Bloodthirsty as ever, I see…" Agares observed as he took a few practice swings with his axe.

"This is just what I need…" Danjal hissed in pleasure as he attacked another warrior, quickly slicking off both of his arms, before impaling him through the chest with his claws in another shower of blood. "I stood by and watched the chancellor play it his way for so long…now it's time for the REAL fun!"

Agares didn't respond to this, as he saw a couple of warriors running to face him. He spun and performed a backslash with his axe, quickly separating one from his lower body as his top half fell to the ground in a pool of blood. He then brought the axe up, and slammed it down onto the other fighter, cutting him in half vertically, as both parts fell over in a spray of blood that stained his axe.

"Yes…." Agares rubbed the blood on his weapon. "Drink the blood of those we hate, and grow stronger!"

For the first time in this siege, the rebels saw themselves being pushed back. Agares struck hard with his axe, while Danjal pounced freely at any who dared to get close to him. The land near the entrance to the Chancellor's fortress was fast becoming soaked with blood, and littered with the body parts of many men.

The Centurions soon joined up with their two larger companions, and aided the effort to suppress the ground forces, jabbing away with their spears.

All seemed grim for the rebels…until something came zooming down from above to their aid.

The first to feel the Balaur's presence was a random Centurion. He had raised his spear to deliver a deathblow to one of the younger fighters, before something came out from nowhere to impale him through the chest. It was one of Shorty's arm blades, attached to the cord inside of his arm. With a powerful yank, he sent the hapless warrior into the air, where he met up with him, and quickly slashed him with his other blade, cleaving the body in two as he came down.

He landed just a few feet in front of the rebels, staring at their enemies.

"My turn…" he simply spoke.

He then grabbed the spear of an attacking centurion, and broke it in two with his arm blade, grabbing the pointed end and jamming it through the warrior's head. The supercharged end of the spear made the man's head explode in mere seconds, scattering some of the other centurions.

He then spotted another centurion running towards him with his own spear. He responded by grabbing the spear and rolling onto his back. He kicked the warrior over with his foot, and extended the blade of his other arm. The warrior's mouth then went into the blade, as it then impaled him through the head.

Shorty swiped his blade away then, separating the fighter's head from his lower jaw as blood shot out from the massive wound. He then got up and looked around at the other centurions, all seemingly too scared to make another move.

"Out of the way, you chicken-shits!" Agares growled, pushing aside a few centurions rather forcefully as Danjal slipped out from behind him.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh…" Danjal hissed in pleasure. "You must be the new Balaur we've heard so much about." He flashed his claws for a moment. "I have always wanted to taste the flesh of one such as yourself."

"I'm not impressed. Frankly…" Agares readied his axe. "See, I killed the last one of your kind, boy…and he was much larger than you…so what chance do you think you've got?"

"Are you gonna talk, or fight?" Shorty responded, not intimidated at all.

"As you wish!" Danjal yelled, as he launched himself towards Shorty. Shorty quickly rolled out of the way, but Danjal was just as quick, pouncing him with an almost animal-like quickness. He then began to jab down towards Shorty's face with his right claws, as Shorty blocked each attempt with his arm blade, and, reached up to grab Danjal's face with his other hand.

Danjal tried to bite with his metal teeth, but he couldn't bite anything, as Shorty had him right by the nose. With a hard squeeze, he began to crush and break Danjal's nose, making blood seep out. Danjal shrieked in pain, as Shorty then kicked him off, and got back on his feet.

"Ohhhh you're gonna pay for that one!" Danjal hissed, as he then threw himself at Shorty again. He slipped past him this time, and slashed him across the right leg. Shorty yelled out in pain as blood seeped out of his armor, and fell onto his knees. Danjal then hopped onto his back, and stabbed him repeatedly through the shoulders and back, causing more blood to leak out.

Shorty flailed and yelled in pain as he did this, before he regained his bearings, and channeled his rage, just as he'd done before. He waited for the right moment, and reached up with his right hand to grab Danjal by the wrist. Danjal grunted and struggled, as Agares was busy fighting off other rebels. Shorty roared lowly, then loudly as he increased the grip on Danjal's wrist, and began to pull on it. Bones could be heard snapping, as he then broke Danjal's hand most of the way off, leaving it dangling by flesh.

Danjal howled out in pain as blood gushed, making him fall back and run away, as Shorty then faced the other powerful warrior. He shot his arm blade back out on its cord once more, just as Agares was about to cleave another rebel in half.

To Shorty's surprise, the blade didn't go in too far. Agares had very tough skin, causing the blade to go in only a few inches. Agares simply chucked at Shorty, as he quickly retracted the blade.

"I'm afraid I won't be as easy to drive away, boy…" Agares growled a bit, before swinging his axe a few times, and bringing it down towards Shorty. Shorty rolled out of the way as the axe smashed into the ground, making the earth shake around the two. He then jumped onto the long hilt of the axe, and used it to jump onto Agares' chest, driving in one of his arm blades.

Agares grunted and fell back a bit, only a little bit of blood seeping out as Shorty took his other blade, and rammed it repeatedly into the warrior's chest. Agares simply grunted in frustration as he reached around and gripped Shorty around the back, putting him into a bear hug.

"It's useless…." Agares laughed a bit. "My skin's been enhanced to take the hardest forms of punishment…" He then squeezed harder, as Shorty groaned and yelled in pain from the increasing pressure on his spine…surely there had to be one spot on him that was vulnerable…maybe that big mouth of his…

It was then with a burst of strength, that he was able to pull his one blade out of his chest, and jam it up under the helmet of Agares, puncturing his lower jaw with it.

Agares yelled out in pain as blood began to gush from under his helmet. He tossed Shorty to the ground, and gripped at his wound for a moment. "Why you miserable…" he grunted, as he picked up his axe once more.

"Agares!" He then heard a voice in his head speak…Prince Abaddon's. "Retreat!"

"Retreat?" Agares was befuddled at this order. "Why?"

"Because you let the Balaur stall you…because of your wasting time fighting with him, the rebel leaders have already discovered and executed the Chancellor!" Abaddon chastised his warrior. "Udlow is lost! Find Danjal, and come back to Stolas at once!"

"But sire!" Agares protested. "If we let the Balaur live…"

"That shall soon be remedied, Agares…do as I say!"

"Yes Sire…" Agares nodded, begrudgingly, as he then ran away in the midst of the cheering rebels. "Kill you next time, boy!"

Shorty, who had been preparing for another attack, looked on, puzzled, as Agares ran off. He looked over the cheering throng of Uldlan rebels, as he smiled under his helmet, and reactivated his comm.-link.

"Master…it's done." He sighed happily. "The Chancellor's been killed, and I kept his two hoods at bay."

"Good job, Astyanax…" The Progenitor responded. "You are now looking at a free Udlow…something that has not been seen in nearly 50 of your Earth years. You have now become a part of history. How does it feel?"

Shorty grunted a bit as he clutched at his wound. "I think I'll feel a little better about it after I come home for a little R and…"

Something then suddenly zoomed onto the planet, and rammed itself right into Shorty, lifting him its arms and flying him to the very top of the former Chancellor's fortress.

Shorty had no time to realize what was going on, before he then found himself falling towards the top of the building. He landed on his feet and rolled a bit, as he looked up and saw the magnificent, white-feathered creature flying down towards him.

"Forgive my intrusion…" Kyrie spoke in her distorted voice. "But our quarrel does not belong with those mere mortals below."

"Who in the world are you?" Shorty gazed up at the Seraphim.

"I am your destroyer…" Kyrie responded. "You need know nothing more than that…"

With that, she launched herself at Shorty with her wings extended. Shorty tried to block her with his blades crossed, but soon found that her large sword carried a powerful force behind it, that nearly sent him over the edge as it smashed into him.

"Wow…" He mused as he readied his blades again. "You're not the average, run of the mill grunt working for Abaddon, are you?"

"Abaddon is the light of this universe…" Kyrie responded. "The light that no darkness shall overcome!"

She then slashed her sword at Shorty to the left and right. Shorty expertly dodged these moves, as he parried away another swing with his blades.

"Fancy sword-work…" Shorty sharpened his blades a bit as he faced down the Seraphim. "Got any other tricks to show off?"

"How about this?" She retorted, as she threw out her left arm. The Shield attached to it then came off, connected to a cord, similar to the one that connected Shorty's blades to his arms. Shorty quickly tried to deflect this with one of his blades, only to find the cord wrapping around his arm, before the shield then spun around and smacked him across the face, putting a dent in his helmet.

Shorty grunted and fell back, retracting his blade. Kyrie then pulled the shield back into her arm for a second, before launching it at him again. Shorty once again crossed his arm blades to block this move, but found himself getting hurt once more, as she was able to keep the shield out and spinning for a few seconds, the shield smacking away at his armor and blades as it spun.

Kyrie then whipped the shield back into her arm once more, and took to the skies on her wings. Shorty whipped his own armblade out in an attempt to catch her, but she simply swerved to avoid it, before she swooped down and snatched him by the shoulders with the claws on her feet.

Shorty grunted and growled in pain as he felt the talons crunch into his armor, and the wounds already left by Danjal. He then reached up and grabbed at her right foot with his right hand. He squeezed at it for a few seconds, and with another burst of strength, he dislodged Kyrie, and threw her face-down to the ground.

Kyrie grunted as she hit the stone below rather hard, before quickly rising and turning to face Shorty. The two readied their weapons, and rushed in to clash again…before something shot in and smacked her in the chest.

Kyrie growled a bit, and looked up to see another familiar face rushing to Shorty's aid.

"Talos!" Shorty shouted to his ally.

Kyrie Prepared to take them both on, until the voice of "Agnus" pierced her brain.

"Run, Kyrie!"

"Agnus, I'm perfectly capable…" Kyrie responded.

"Let's not leave anything to chance, child…" He responded. "Let us wait until both Agares and Danjal have recovered…We have lost too much for today."

"Yes sir…" She nodded slowly…she then took to the skies, and vanished, just as Talos came to his friend's side.

"What…what was that thing?" Shorty panted just a little as he looked to the sky, then to Talos.

"I have no idea…" Talos responded. "It doesn't resemble anything I've seen on any of the other planets I've been to."

"Perhaps I ought to track it down…" Shorty spoke as he prepared to fly away, only to stumble a little bit.

"I don't think you're in any shape for that right now…" Talos cradled his friend as he opened a portal back to their ship. "Let's get you in the tube for a few hours…you've had a rough day."

"You're the doc…" Shorty chuckled a bit, following Talos into the portal…

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"Remember Kyrie…This power is a gift from Prince Abaddon to you…if you find yourself near a Balaur, or any other creature that dares challenge your power, then don't hesitate to use it…let your anger, your hatred for all things evil and impure flow through your body…It might scare you at first…but don't be afraid of it…embrace it!"

"Yes Master…"

The memory of one of Kyrie's lessons reverberated in her head as she flew through space, her wings once again having changed into the glowing energy for this purpose…She may have fled this time, but she was determined to kill the Balaur the next time…


	11. Lethal Guardian

The wide black doors opened in the large arena, as the figure of a beaten and battered officer was thrown onto the harsh grey

The wide black doors opened in the large arena, as the figure of a beaten and battered officer was thrown onto the harsh grey sands of the Stolian land, still stained with blood in certain parts.

The two centurion guards quickly closed the door, as the officer quickly got to his feet. He saw bright lights shining down on him, as well as the jeering masses of Stolian warriors, in full armor and masks, shouting angrily for blood. The slender man cowered in one corner, unsure of what to do.

"First officer Gerack!…" Abbadon's voice boomed out over the arena through a microphone he kept in his private box. "Late of the destroyed Commonwealth of Udlow…advisor and protector of the late Chancellor, Lucius Reticulus…As the sovereign lord of Stolas, I hereby have selected you to bear the responsibility of your master's failures."

Gerack stood slowly as one of the ceturions threw a sword down to him.

"What is to become of me, then?" He asked nervously, upwards. "Execution?"

"Do not think of me as an unfair tyrant, Gerack…" Abbadon responded from his box. "I shall indeed give you a chance to leave with your life…if you can survive this trial, that is…"

"Trial?" Gerack looked even more nervous now.

He then looked over as another set of doors opened. The figure of the re-masked Lord Ipos stood as the smoke from the nearby forge cleared around him. He was back in his flowing cape once more, as he walked slowly onto the sand, his newly polished armor glistening under the lights.

"A trial by combat…" Ipos answered for his master. "If you can survive for 3 minutes against me, we shall let you live…"

He then extended a finger to Gerack, as he scrambled for his own sword. "But make no mistake…I am just as determined to redeem my honor as you are…"

"Come and get me then!" Gerack shouted, trying to show some bravado, although not too convincingly. "Come get me!"

Ipos said nothing, as he then grabbed the collar of his cape, and tossed it aside, revealing his full armored form. He slowly reached behind him afterward, and pulled out his gigantic broadsword.

"Oh, shit…" Gerack muttered nervously, as Ipos then grunted, and ran towards Gerack with his sword at the ready in both hands.

He raised the sword, and swung it down toward Gerack, who quickly sidestepped his opponent, and tried to slash at him with his own, smaller sword. The blade simply bounced off Ipos' armor though, which was also reinforced and strengthened since last time by his own hand.

Ipos rammed his right shoulder into Gerack, knocking him off balance, as he then swung his sword in a diagonal, upward motion. The tip of the blade cut through Gerack's flimsy armor, as he felt a sharp rush of pain, blood soon oozing out of the chest plate.

"At least give me something resembling a challenge, officer…" Ipos spoke in an intimidating tone, his sword pointed right at him. "Or you shall only confirm my theory that all Udlans are weaklings and cowards…"

Gerack then rolled to his side, and swept at Ipos' legs with his right leg. This in turn threw Ipos off balance, as Gerack then came up and put his hands together, smacking him hard across the helmet, and then kicking him hard in the chest with his left foot.

Ipos grunted, and fell onto his back, as Gerack yelled out in a blind rage, and grabbed another sword, quickly mounting Ipos so that he could stab him hard through his chest plate…only to be met with a firm right hand to his throat.

"Nice try, Udlan scum…" Ipos growled as he tightened his grip, and slowly rose back onto his feet. Gerack choked and flailed with his sword, as Ipos simply grabbed his sword hand, and twisted his wrist to make him drop it. "But as you can see, I learned from my mistakes in the past, and gained strength from them…whereas you…"

He then hoisted him up by the neck with his right hand, and let his left gauntlet open up, revealing a new weapon, a large menacing drill, underneath, which whirred to life. "You were content to wallow in your defeats…which is why you are judged unfit this very day…"

With that, he jammed the drill into Gerack's belly. Gerack choked and gagged, as it ripped into his insides, blood splattering all over himself and onto Ipos' armor as it whirred away with great power, eventually going so deep that the tip came out through his back.

Within moments, Gerack's body went limp, as Ipos, stained with his blood, tossed him back to the ground. He then took up his sword, carefully aimed it for the neck of the corpse, and in one swift chop, severed the head from the body.

More blood seeped onto the sand as he did this, before he reached down, and grabbed the head by its dark hairs, raising it towards the cheering spectators.

"Behold!" He shouted to them. "Behold what befalls those who fail our glorious Prince, and pray that this fate does not lie in your own future!"

He then saw the doors open, as the golden masked figure of Prince Abbadon entered the bloodied sands, in his full, regal robes. Agares, and Danjal, who now had a metallic appliance on his wrist, to keep it attached to his hand, flanked him.

"You have renewed my faith, Lord Ipos!" Abbadon spoke, obviously impressed. "Gerack was no true warrior, admittedly…but I could sense the bloodthirstiness in you…the eagerness to succeed in our great cause." He then looked up to crowd watching above them. "May you all learn a great deal from this man's example!"

The crowd cheered as Ipos simply discarded the head, and walked with his master, and the other two soldiers.

"I anxious to properly serve you again, Sire…" Ipos spoke as he retrieved his cape along the way. "If I may, I would like the chance to kill the Balaur with my new weaponry, and take care of Talos and the Progenitor as well…"

"All in good time, Lord Ipos…" Abbadon spoke through his golden mask softly as he led his minions down the hall connected to the Arena. "First I must see how things are proceeding back on Earth…."

"I…don't follow, sire…" Ipos tilted his head as he walked.

Abbadon smiled under his mask. "I think it's time I told you about my secret weapon…"

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Shorty slowly awoke in the safety of the liquid-filled tube, the breathing mask over his mouth. He was in his humanoid Balaur body, only without his armor, dressed only in thin undergarments on his midsection, fitted to his body size.

The liquid drained from the tube as he removed the breathing mask, letting it dangle as the glass dropped soon after for him.

He stepped out and dried himself with a towel that Talos handed to him. He could still change back to his original form, but ever since leaving Earth, he became more and more used to being in his Balaur form. It was different from his previous, unfinished form, as he was in control of his senses all the time. This was evident in his face, which still had the same basic look of his previous form, other than the ever-present red glow in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" The Progenitor asked him as he slowly walked into the room.

"Refreshed as usual." Shorty smiled as he gave the towel back to Talos, and walked over to his armor, neatly stacked near the tube as he examined it.

"I made the necessary repairs while you rested." Talos told Shorty before he could even ask. "I even reinforced the mask a bit for you, to protect against future denting."

"You're a hell of a forge, Talos." Shorty smiled as he walked back to Talos. He had no real concept of hell, of course, but he had snatched up some of the lingo from the neighboring planets in his travels. "I hope you're a hell of a tracker too…"

Talos nodded slowly, knowing that Shorty was talking about their mystery attacker on Udlow. "As a matter of fact, as we were leaving, I picked this up…" he held up a single feather. "My blast must of jarred it loose."

Shorty looked it over as Talos continued. "I ran it through the scanners several times…this thing has got hundreds, hundreds of different DNA sequences encoded into it. The only way a creature like this could exist is if it were engineered…"

"Engineered…" The Progenitor spoke up. "Like a Balaur…"

"Whoa, whoa…" Shorty furrowed his brow. "You're saying that thing was a Balaur?"

"It's very similar in its genetic makeup…" Talos nodded. "Whoever constructed it must have gained a rough idea of how a Balaur is made…and threw in the DNA of a rare species of giant bird from Illyria VII to fill in most of the gaps, hence the feathers…"

Shorty thought this over for a moment, looking at the feather, before looking up at Talos with an idea. "Abbadon?…"

"It's a good bet that he's the creator…" Talos nodded.

"You were lucky to survive the first encounter, Shorty…" The progenitor walked over to his side. "What we're up against here is what could quite possibly be Prince Abbadon's deadliest weapon."

Shorty nodded slowly, before looking back at Talos. "Do we have any clue where this thing is headed?"

Talos walked over to a console and pressed a few buttons. "Well, I did manage to get a lock on the creature as it left Udlow, right before I picked you up…and if my calculations are correct…" he pressed a few more buttons, before furrowing his own brow. "It was headed towards Earth's solar system."

"Home?" Shorty's eyes shot wide open as he walked over to the same console. "What could it possibly want with my home world?"

"Nothing to Earth's benefit, I'd imagine…" Talos frowned a bit.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Shorty looked to both of his companions. "Lets get there before it does any damage!"

"Relax Shorty…" Talos responded as he punched coordinates into another console. "We're already on our way…"

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In the outskirts of the Great Valley, the Mysterious beyond, Ruby's family slowly made their way through a quarry covered in smooth rocks, just past a swamp they had walked through carefully. Amber, Ruby's mother, had one of her siblings, Ty, in tow, while her father, Gyp, looked after her other sibling, Jade.

"It'll be so nice to see our Ruby, whom we haven't seen for so long." Amber smiled as she walked with her mate.

"Indeed…" Gyp nodded. "Now that Redclaw is dead, there's no further need to be apart from her."

"How far are we from the Great Valley?" Ty asked his mother eagerly.

"Oh, not too far now…" she responded with a smile.

"I can't wait to show her how well I can swim now!" Jade giggled as she moved on with her brother.

Gyp nodded and smiled as he walked on, seeing the first set of mountains near the valley in the distance.

But then, he suddenly noticed something else. Something much more menacing…

"Everyone! Take cover!" He yelled to his mate and children.

"What is it, Gyp?" Amber asked him, shocked.

"Fast Biters!" Gyp alerted his family, trying to find cover quickly, as Jade and Ty cowered near their mother.

It was too late though, as the first raptor that spotted them leaped out towards the small family. Amber and Gyp each took a child and ran, trying to find something to hide in, only to find more raptors leaping out in front of them, perching themselves on rocks all around, until they were surrounded.

"You three, stay here!" Gyp looked at them all seriously. "I'll try to draw them away from you!"

"Gyp! Don't!" Amber protested. It was too late though, as Gyp was off and running, trying to get the attention of all the raptors, as she watched in horror with the children.

Gyp's plan failed though, as a raptor tackled him to the ground just a few seconds after he had started to run. The vicious predator hissed and opened its strong jaws, preparing to take a bite.

Amber was too horrified to even scream, as she quickly covered the eyes of her children.

The raptor leaned in for the bite…then suddenly froze…

Amber just stood there, wondering what had just happened. A large sword had just flown down from out of nowhere, and impaled the raptor right through the back. Its body soon went limp afterward.

The Seraphim form of Kyrie flew down onto the scene, leaving all the raptors befuddled as she reached down and pulled her sword from the body of the raptor she had just hurled it at, like a javelin. Blood now stained the shining blade, as she addressed the predators in her mighty, echoing voice.

"Preparing to feast on the innocent, are we?" She growled as she looked around at them. "Never again…" she got into a fighting stance with her sword and shield at the ready. "Never again!"

A raptor roared at her, and prepared to pounce. Before it could even do it though, she spun and hurled her shield at his midsection. The sharp edges cut into its throat as she held it out on the cord attached to her arm, making it spin as blood flew out onto the rocks. The predator then fell, its head barely attached to its neck as it soon lay in a pool of its own blood.

Two more raptors leapt towards her, one from in front, the other from behind. She turned and quickly skewered the one coming from behind with her sword. The raptor barely had time to screech, as she then lifted it up on her sword, and slammed it into the other raptor coming to her front.

She smashed them both into the ground, before she lifted her sword, the first raptor still attached to it. She slammed, and slammed, and slammed it back down onto the other repeatedly, with an increasing fury. She then threw the first raptor off of her sword, directly on top of the other, before bringing down her sword vertically, and impaling both of them at the same time.

She kept the sword in the ground as she then turned her attention to a raptor that had leapt ferociously in her direction, trying to pounce. She then threw her arm and shot the shield out once more, making the very end of her cord wrap around the preadtor's neck in midair.

She then threw her shield arm with great strength, yanking the caught raptor, and tossing it into a large rock behind her. The impact of the throw practically made the creature explode, smashing its muzzle flat as its belly burst open on the rock's sharp points, spilling some of its entrails as blood seeped down along its once dry surface.

She looked over and saw the leader of the pack trying to run away. She quickly zipped over on her wings, and grabbed the raptor by its tail. The alpha male responded by trying to turn and bite her arm, only to have its upper and lower jaw grabbed by her other hand.

She increased her grip on its jaw, making its bones crunch a bit, as she looked fiercely at the creature with her glowing, yellow eyes.

"For the unrighteous, there is no escape!" She growled.

With that she quickly jerked her arm down, ripping off the creature's entire muzzle in a spray of blood. The Raptor squealed in pain through what was left of its mouth, before finally collapsing from blood loss.

Ruby's family huddled together, unsure of what to make of all this, as Kyrie walked over to her sword, and pulled it out of the ground, and the two impaled raptors. She slowly wiped the blood off of the blade, before sheathing her weapon, and walking over to the fast-runners.

"There's no need to cower…" she spoke in a friendly tone now. "You pure souls have nothing to fear from me."

"Oh?…" Amber spoke softly as she surveyed the scene, and looked back at Kyrie, sensing the sincerity in her voice. "Well then…I suppose thanks are in order…"

"No thanks required…" Kyrie responded. "Protecting the innocent, and punishing the wicked are all a part of my work…" She flexed her wings and tilted her head as she though of something else. "One thing though…you all look like you're traveling…where are you heading?"

"To the Great Valley…" Ty spoke up timidly.

"Yes…" Gyp nodded. "Right over that way…" he pointed the way for her.

"Oh!" Kyrie realized. "The large, fertile land…I know where it is." She extended her wings now. "Would you like me to take you all there?"

Gyp hesitated for a moment, before looking over to his mate…she still sensed Kyrie's sincerity, as she nodded encouragingly. He then turned back to face the Seraphim.

"Well, sure…" He smiled a bit.

"Great!" Kyrie responded as she walked over to them. With great strength, she lifted Amber and Gyp into each arm. Ty and Jade in turn were held by one of their parents, as Kyrie soon leapt, and flew into the air.

Everyone held tight to the Seraphim, as she took to the skies, none of them ever having been this high before. It was a frightening, yet exhilarating experience at the same time, as Kyrie glided effortlessly through the air.

Below, in the great valley, everyone was gathering to watch the strange spectacle going on above. The strange, winged figure of the Seraphim had appeared in the sky only moments ago, as she slowly circled the area, and lowered herself to a good landing spot, keeping the family intact.

Ruby, who had been a latecomer as a spectator, quickly separated from her friends for a closer look, quickly realizing who it was that the Seraphim was carrying.

"Mom! Dad! Ty! Jade!" Ruby called out happily, waving to everyone. Kyrie soon touched down after Ruby spotted them all, letting her family go. She then watched in fascination as the once more reunited family embraced, now all in the safety of the Valley.

She could have watched this touching scene forever, before she suddenly heard a male voice speaking up in the crowd.

"What on earth is THIS thing, now?" Topsy asked quizzically, stepping out from behind Tria, as Kyrie turned to face him for a moment. He had seen enough odd things recently, and he had just about had his fill of them, as far as he was concerned.

It was in that moment, that something suddenly sparked…she felt something, something powerful, trying to pierce her brain. She saw flashes of jumbled images in her mind, along with several loud noises, and a single voice calling out…

"DEENA! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ruby and the others watched curiously, as Kyrie gripped her head for a moment, and suddenly flew away from the scene, confused. She didn't even give them a chance to ask her what was wrong.

Everyone soon focused their attention back to the reunified family of fast-runners, as She landed on a rock on the outskirts…she rubbed her head slowly, and thought to herself…

"That face…I know that face…but where from?"…


	12. Sins of The Father

Shorty wandered through the basement level of his ship slowly, still in his unarmored Balaur form

Shorty wandered through the basement level of his ship slowly, still in his unarmored Balaur form. The glow in his eyes was reduced as he observed all the things in storage, and collecting dust.

He then heard a sound in back of him, and quickly turned to see a familiar face walking towards him.

"Fancy seeing you down here…" Talos spoke as he approached. "Didn't know you had an interest in this ship's golden age."

"Well, I had to do something to keep my mind off whatever might be happening at home." Shorty sighed as he wiped some dust off the progenitor's old templates, which were neatly stacked on a metal desk.

"Don't worry…" Talos put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure we'll get there in time to stop that thing…I haven't met a single ship that's been able to outrun this vessel, and we're going at maximum warp now."

Shorty nodded slowly as he then approached a dark glass tube. He walked to it curiously, and wiped away the dust with his hand, finding a light switch with his other.

The light gently blinked on in front of him, revealing a very impressive suit of armor. It was black, with green and gold highlights, and a V-shaped red visor on the helmet.

"What is this thing?…" Shorty narrowed his eyes as he blew off some more dust, and looked right into the tube.

Talos smiled a bit. "Oh yes…Little project I had to put on hold before pursuing you." He walked over and turned to face Shorty, in front of the tube.

"This is VEGA IV. Advanced prototype mobile robotic unit. It's controlled via neural link between the user and the machine. Once a user's jacked into the mainframe, it's as if the user is inside the armor, looking right through the visor. Every limb is then controlled as if it were part of the user's body, instinctively."

Shorty nodded. "Sounds like a useful tool. Why not take it out?"

Talos switched the light back off. "It doesn't work right. For some reason, the brain waves in enhanced creatures like us are too much for its batteries. Every time I try to jack in, the unit shorts out after just five seconds."

"There's gotta be somebody who can use it…" Shorty walked with Talos back up to the main levels.

"Well, I haven't had much luck in finding a sympathetic to our cause…at least not one that I know could handle this kind of technology effectively." Talos walked with a solemn look on his face as he led Shorty away from his basement of incomplete dreams.

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Agnus walked around the shores of the Big Water slowly; looking for any evidence of Abbadon's creation…he was very protective of her, and always quick to admonish her for any unscheduled outings.

His fears about such outings were confirmed, once he saw the form of the Seraphim land near him, her feathers still spattered in blood as she slowly changed back into her original form.

"Kyrie!" Agnus scolded. "Did you go on another rampage against the sharpteeth?"

"This time was different." Kyrie narrowed her eyes, quick to defend her actions. "If I hadn't acted, a whole family of fast-runners would have perished before reaching the Great Valley."

"Oh Kyrie…" Agnus clenched his eyes shut. "How many more times must I remind you about being discreet?" He opened them again and looked to her, sternly. "You already have the Progenitor and his ungodly fiends on your tail after you left Udlow…the last thing we need is for you to draw attention to your location on Earth."

Kyrie turned her back to him, as he pressed on, walking over next to her as his face softened a little. "I do not say you should have no compassion for others…it's what gives you your strength as a Seraphim…but you must learn to temper such compassion, so that it does not expand to where it becomes a liability."

Kyrie nodded slowly, understanding where her protector was coming from…as her mind then turned to something else.

"I…saw someone today…" she spoke softly, looking out towards the rolling waves of the ocean, the image of Topsy coming to mind once more.

"Who?" Agnus' face took a much more concerned expression once again.

"I…I don't know him…" Kyrie shook her head as she looked towards the brown, sandy earth below. "But, I felt something…some kind of…connection…as if he had something to do with my old life…"

Agnus sighed softly and lowered his head closer to Kyrie. "Then you must try to forget about him…" He spoke tenderly now. "Even if he is connected to that previous life, you must remind yourself, that life is over. You are not who you were before. You're something different, something that strives for a higher purpose…remember, you were chosen by our lord and god, Abbadon…chosen to bring light to this universe, and defend it from the dark lord, the Progenitor, and his abominations…this is something that any other simple creature could never comprehend."

"I suppose you're right…" Kyrie nodded slowly.

Agnus was satisfied now, and said nothing else, as he turned his back to her, slowly walking away.

Kyrie looked out at the ocean for what seemed like hours to her. She had listened to Agnus' words, his advice to forget about the face that she had seen…but no matter what she did to purge the image from her mind, it kept returning to the forefront. She then realized, that she would have no peace, if these feelings she had from the image were not explained. She didn't know how, or why, but something inside was still urging her to investigate.

"Forgive me, Agnus…" She thought to herself, as she rose, and shifted into her Seraphim body once more. "But I cannot simply leave such feelings to rest…"

With that, she extended her large wings, and took to the sky, flying away from the coastline once more…

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"You get back here!"

An irate Cera ran after her sister, Tricia, who was now about the age that Cera was, when she first reached the Great Valley with her friends.

"Make me, slowpoke!" Tricia shouted as she ran far ahead, giggling with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I swear on the bright circle, this is the last time you'll be sneaking stink bugs into my tree stars!" Cera growled in frustration, while trying not to betray her own amusement at the prank. She had a sense of humor, of course, but she didn't want her sister to see it at the moment.

"All right, knock it off you two…" Tria rolled her eyes a bit as she walked onto the scene, looking to the younger of the siblings as she kept her own smile. "Tricia, I am going to get you into a bath today, even if I have to carry you like a hatchling. Now quit running away."

"Ok mom…" Tricia half-moaned as she slowed down, and moved towards her mother. Cera slowed down, and finally let her amusement show, grinning to her younger sister as she walked past.

Tria shook her head and chuckled a little, as she led Tricia on, with Cera walking behind them, the happy family unaware of what else was going on outside of their little world…not even bothering to look up and see the feathered figure of the Seraphim perched up in a large tree nearby, observing them.

Kyrie was in a squatting position on the thick branch, her face unflinching as her sharp eyes followed the three three-horns…It was so foreign to someone of her upbringing…yet so familiar at the same time.

She wracked her brain as she looked on, trying to piece it all together…she then looked over to her right, and saw Littlefoot, on a stroll with Chomper at his side, sharing a casual conversation.

"Bizarre…" Kyrie narrowed her eyes. "A sharptooth with a longneck…" she thought to herself.

It was then that something went off in her head…a spark…a vision from the past…one that was beginning to draw her away from the valley…and back to where it all began…

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The images raced through Kyrie's mind as she flew back to the old canyons, created by that terrible earthquake all those years ago…

She could now see herself in a younger age, everything transpiring through her point of view…the longneck had sparked this dormant memory, because at the time she had been talking with her sisters about an encounter between one of them and a young longneck.

Apparently, this sister had been missing for some time now, as there was mention of her being separated in the earthquake that split the land…she couldn't make out her name at the moment, but she listened intently, trying to let these memories come back to her slowly.

She could then see two adult three-horns, walking in front of her…she couldn't make out the male's name, but the female was apparently called Deena…they were leading her, and her remaining sisters through the cluttered remains of their former home, trying to find any signs of life, or vegetation.

She then saw them stop…Deena walked back and got behind her children, while the male stepped forward to investigate a noise he had heard…

Before he could report anything, the form of two monstrous sharpteeth jumped down in front of them, roaring out hungrily. The male quickly charged and fought them both with his horns, allowing his family to pass through before he quickly retreated and joined them.

She could feel the fear in these memories now, as the male quickly ran towards what looked like a large stone bridge, going over it first to make sure it was safe. She then saw him motioning for his family to join him, as the female led the way for the children, running quickly as she could feel herself panting for breath, trying her damndest to keep up.

But then it happened…the rock suddenly began to crack beneath their feet.

The male watched in horror, as she and the rest of her family plummeted to the bottom of the canyon.

"Topsy!!" The female cried out.

"Deena! Noooooooo!" The male shouted back as she fell with his children.

It wasn't a deep drop, but that also meant that they were all trapped, a new meal for the hungry sharpteeth. Deena panicked and huddled her children around her, looking on in horror as the sharpteeth jumped down into where they were, and snarled.

Topsy looked down, wondering what to do, panicking just as much, as Deena looked up to him with the children, crying out to him for help.

But he just stood there, and watched as one of the sharpteeth took her by surprise, grabbing her by the back of the neck in its powerful jaws, causing her to scream as blood flowed out over her head and down the monster's muzzle.

Upon seeing this, Topsy did the one thing he vowed never to do in his life…he turned…he turned and fled…leaving his family to their fate…

She could now only watch in horror as Deena was now being torn to shreds by the sharptooth, before turning and suddenly seeing the jaws of the second one closing in on her…

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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Kyrie's scream of anguish was so powerful, that it could be heard all across the dead land around her. Some of the rocks even shook and tumbled with the power of her voice, as she then collapsed onto her knees, and changed back to her original form, shaken.

She breathed heavily. Tears rolled down her cheeks, but she had not the will to even sob, or bawl with them. She simply sat there, her eyes wide open at the horror of what she had just unlocked in her head, before slowly regaining her composure.

She looked over to the remains of a dead adult three-horn. She knew she was in the area where her new life had begun some time ago, and it was a good bet that this adult was a part of her previous one…the same that she had seen killed before her very eyes.

"Mother…" she whispered, tearily, as she walked over and sat next to the bones. "All this time you were here, and I never even recognized it…I'm so sorry…" She then leaned over and nuzzled at the skull, careful not to break the fragile bones.

"It's not fair…" Kyrie sniffed as she pulled back. "It's not fair that I should be granted new life, while you and my sisters rot in this godforsaken pit…you all deserve so much better than this…"

She lowered her head, and allowed a few more tears to drop near her feet, as her mind soon moved to something else…that male threehorn…the one who sparked her investigation, whom she saw in the valley…she now recognized him…

"Why?…" She began to breathe heavily as she looked up at the skull, her tears of sadness soon becoming those of pain…and rage. "Why would he not save us?"

She rose slowly onto her feet as she furrowed her brow as well. "Why do we all have to lie here in this beshitted hole, while HE, he who abandoned us to death, is now wanting for nothing in the Great Valley?"

She then looked at the remains of her sisters. "Why was it that only one of us got to share his happy fate, leaving the rest of us to merely feel the cold sting of death for all eternity? Why? Why must fate be so cruel?"

Her rage was now reaching a boiling point, as she calmed herself slightly, and looked down towards the earth under her feet. "I swear…I swear on all of your souls, that this injustice will soon be rectified. I was indeed chosen to bring light and justice to this barren and unfair world, and I know now how I can truly start on this path…"

She now had a stoic look on her face as she walked away from the boneyard.

"He must pay…he must face punishment for his sins…"

With that, she quickly changed into her Seraphim form, and spread her wings. She flew high into the sky, her eyes set on the Great Valley, as she slowly withdrew her large sword, intent on using it very soon…


	13. Family Reunion

Lord Ipos strolled slowly down the hall to Abbadon's private chamber, onboard his personal travelling vessel. Gold rings passed over him every few steps he took on the grey walkway, the limitless stars surrounding the glass tube that the rings supported.

Two golden armored centurions uncrossed their electric spears as Ipos approached, the light from the tips reflecting off of his newly polished armor and helmet. He walked past them wordlessly, and made his way into the main room, where Abbadon sat, waiting for him. Not on a throne this time, but on a chair at a table, not unlike one found in a café.

"My lord…" Ipos bowed his head, before sitting on the opposite side of the table. Abbadon lifted the bottom part of his golden mask, so that he could sip from the hot beverage that sat next to him.

"Lord Ipos…" He spoke as he put his mask back into place. "I was told that you wished to speak with me regarding the fall of Udlow."

"That is correct, sir." Ipos nodded. "I wish to enquire as to the whereabouts of our mystery creature…"

Abbadon froze for a moment, as he held his cup. "I don't follow…"

"Right after the Chancellor was killed…" Ipos spoke as he reached into a compartment in his chest armor. "You gave Agares and Danjal orders to retreat, even though the Balaur was still present on the surface."

"Danjal was badly injured…" Abbadon answered, simply.

"Agares could have killed him still…" Ipos looked at his master as he pulled out what looked like photos. "But instead, you pulled him out…and moments later…" he placed the photos near Abbadon. "Something else seemed to try and do the job for him…"

Abbadon looked down, and saw the image of the Seraphim in the photos, fighting the Balaur.

"Where did these photos come from?" He asked, calmly.

"A spy ship happened to be passing by, when this thing appeared…" Ipos responded. "We've run it through ID systems a million times, and its come up blank…there's nothing like this creature in the universe."

"Precisely…" Abbadon answered, not at all angry at this discovery. "She is the first of a new breed…"

Ipos then put the photos away. "So you DO know something about it…"

Abbadon then motioned for his servants to leave, as he then leaned a bit closer to his right hand man.

"You must promise me, right now, that what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room…this is such an important project, that I'm hesitant to leak info to nearly anyone at this point."

Ipos nodded. "You have my silence…continue…"

"My genetics team had a breakthrough recently…" He began. "They discovered that if they took what they knew already about the makeup of a Balaur, and filled in the gaps of the sequences with any desired creature, you could create something very similar, and very powerful."

Ipos narrowed his eyes under his helmet. "You made a monster of your own?"

"It's OUR monster, Lord Ipos…" Abbadon pointed a corrective finger upward as he explained further. "What happened on Udlow confirmed what I had already known…Our soldiers, our best warriors, simply cannot compete with the creations of the Progenitor…we can put up a fight now, granted, but in the end, these monsters will continue to mow us all down."

He looked straight into Ipos' eyes with much seriousness now. "We must develop our own special weapons to combat them…that is where my Seraphim comes in…"

"Seraphim…" Ipos tilted his head a bit, confused. "You dare to give a monster the name of a heavenly creature?"

"Ah, but you have not truly seen her, Lord Ipos…" Abbadon put his hands together in an almost joyful manner. "I made sure to pick a subject who had died young, and sent Agnus, a robotic chameleon prototype I dug up from engineering, to deliver the biological agent that would revive and change the animal…"

"What does dying young have to do with it?" Ipos rapped his fingers a bit on the table, not truly understanding.

"Can't you imagine?" Abbadon answered. "Having your life suddenly taken from you…feeling the cold hand of death years before your time…and then being brought back? Can't you see the kind of fear, and rage that would run through a being that has been violated in such a horrendous way? Imagine seeing that anger harnessed, and used for tremendous power…"

"Sounds dangerous, if you ask me…" Ipos shook his head slowly as he looked out of the window towards the stars. "If this creature really is full of rage, then what's to stop it from turning against you? What's to stop it from switching sides in its anger."

Abbadon would have been angered by such contradictions in normal situations, but in this case, he understood where Ipos was coming from. His eyes gave a reassuring look as he answered his right hand man.

"If any problems arise with my experiment, Agnus is very capable fighter. I'm certain he can terminate her if it is needed."

Ipos pondered this as he arose from his chair, and paced a few feet away. He then looked back to his master. "Perhaps I should go down there…Just to watch over this, and provide support for this Agnus…I feel he might need it."

Abbadon simply nodded as he heard this. "Well…I have no other pressing needs at this moment…so if you think that's the right thing to do, then I will respect your judgment." He then pointed a finger up near his face once more. "Just be sure you keep regular contact with me, this time."

Ipos nodded slowly, remembering his failure from his last mission to Earth all too well. "I shall, my Lord…"

Abbadon watched as Ipos bowed respectfully, and slowly made his way out of the room, towards his vessel. He then called over one of his armored guards, and spoke to him softly.

"Send word to Agares…once Danjal has properly healed, they are to follow Lord Ipos to Earth, out of his sight…I need assurance that Lord Ipos will not become an unstable element in my experiment."

"It shall be done, my Lord…" The guard answered as he bowed and left…

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Kyrie was now in her normal form, as she stalked slowly through the grass of the Great Valley. Once again, she witnessed the wide, sun-filled paradise that surrounded the lucky inhabitants of this place.

Such a sight would provide comfort for other newcomers…but for her, every step on the soft grass she took, served as a painful reminder of the rocky hell that her family's bones now inhabited…the hell that she was lucky enough to pull herself out of.

She now had the memory of her father's scent coming back to her mind, as she tracked it through this land. She felt her purpose growing ever more as she walked.

Within a few moments, she saw him…

There he was, standing with his new mate, enjoying a conversation with her as her sister, and new half-sister played together nearby. A normally tranquil sight, that obviously did nothing to soothe Kyrie's nerves…

After a moment of observation, she took a deep breath, and walked out of tall grass she was hiding behind.

"Father…" She spoke out to him.

Topsy looked to the other side as he heard this, and then in her direction…upon seeing her, his face immediately turned white.

"Topsy?" Tria narrowed her eyes as she looked to him, and Kyrie. "Who is that?"

The Father and Daughter merely stared at each other in silence, as Cera noticed something off, and ran over with Tricia.

"Dad, what's going o-" She froze as she immediately turned to see her formerly dead sister standing in front of the family.

"Kira…" Topsy almost whispered, breaking the silence, calling her by her original name.

"Hello, Father…" Kyrie walked a bit closer. "How have you been enjoying your life to this point?" The venom was just beginning to creep into her voice.

"Kira!" Cera ran to her sister. "What are you doing here all of a sudden? I thought you were-"

"Dead?" Kyrie abruptly finished Cera's sentence. "Yes, I understand…" She then paced slowly past her sister. "That's exactly how HE wants it to remain…dead."

"Kira…" Topsy breathed heavily as the old memories came rushing back. "I-"

"Save your breath!" Kyrie now shouted, letting more of her anger show. "Even if you spit out enough apologies to fill the lake behind me…it will NEVER grant you forgiveness for what you have done!"

"Kira! Kira, wait!" Cera got in front of her. "What did he do?"

"He left us to die…" Kyrie's breathing became labored as her temper rose. "He left ALL of us to die, so he could save his own hide!" She pushed past Cera as she walked closer to Topsy.

"Please, Kira…" Topsy lowered his head, trying to hold back tears. "I didn't want to do it…but I had no choice…"

"Yes you did…" Kyrie snarled now. "You could have sacrificed yourself for our sakes…we could have found safety, and you could have died honorably…but instead you fled…fled, like the coward you truly are!"

"That's enough!" Cera got in front of her again. "I will NOT have you calling our father a coward! Now you either apologize now, or leave!"

Kyrie frowned at her sister and then suddenly lunged at her, with her developing horns.

"You will not demand such nonsense from me!"

Cera immediately jumped back as this happened, and immediately got in front of her father, while Tria and Tricia watched on, frightened.

"Back down…" Cera warned Kyrie. "Don't make me hurt you…"

"Hurt me?" Kyrie cocked an eyebrow at this notion. "Sister…I am far more than a match for you now…"

She then decided to reveal her other form as she titled her head back, growling as a glow came over her body.

The whole threehorn family watched in horror as her body became bipedal and feathered, her large wings spreading from her back as the shield grew out on her arm, still attached by the cord within.

"Kira…" Topsy spoke again, his jaw dropping.

"I do not go by that name anymore, Father…" Kyrie answered in her echoing voice. "I have been chosen…chosen by the awesome forces of a world beyond our own…I have been reborn! I am Kyrie, a righteous warrior of justice in an unjust universe! I am no longer what you would call a threehorn…I am a Seraphim!"

No one in Cera's family could say anything in response at this point, except for Topsy, who shook as he walked towards his transformed daughter.

"Kira…What can I do?" He asked, tearfully. "What can I do to stop your anger? What can I do to right the wrongs I've done in the past."

Kyrie narrowed her eyes again. "The only thing you must do…is die!"

She roared the last part of her sentence, as she reared back, and struck him across the face with a hard right fist. Bones could be heard snapping, as Topsy yelled out in pain and stumbled off to the side, blood already seeping through his nose.

"Topsy!" Tria yelled as she ran to her husband's side. Kyrie responded by lashing out her left arm, and shooting the shield out of its holder on her wrist.

The cord quickly wrapped around the female threehorn's neck, as the round metal finally struck her hard under the chin. She choked a bit as Kyrie pulled back, and made the weapon retract into her body once more.

"You bitch!" Cera yelled out in frustration, as she leapt up to fight Kyrie once more.

Kyrie quickly saw this coming as she caught her sister by the neck and began to squeeze.

Tricia then ran over and began to headbutt Kyrie in the leg, screaming. "Let her go! Let her go!"

Kyrie then kicked Tricia in the side, making her back off as she screamed in pain. She then dropped Cera and walked over to the younger threehorn, preparing to slam her shield down into Tricia's back.

"No you don't!" Cera yelled, as she jammed one of her developing horns into Kyrie's heel.

Kyrie growled in pain as this drew a little blood from her foot. She quickly turned, and backhanded Cera with her shield.

Cera went flying after this move, hitting the ground and rolling many feet away, nearly unconscious as she lay on her side.

"Don't worry father…" Kyrie turned her attention to Topsy now, as she slowly withdrew her sword. "I don't intend to kill you immediately."

Topsy had no intention of fighting his own daughter, as he turned, and started to flee.

Before he could get anywhere, though, Kyrie quickly ran over, and slashed him across one of his hind legs with her sword.

Topsy yelled out in pain as he could feel the blood running down the back of it, slowed down by the blow as Kyrie slowly stalked him.

"You've never known what it's like to be eaten by a Sharptooth…" She spoke more calmly now, as she then slashed the sword over his other hind leg, making him scream and fall onto his belly.

"The pain is unimaginable…the teeth cutting through flesh and bone relentlessly, like a million blades all at once…"

She then swiped her sword three times along his backside, making more blood come out as he continued to yell out in pain. She made sure to only graze the surface of his skin at this point.

"All you can do is scream, and hope that the pain will be over soon…but it never is…oh no…it lasts as long as you've lived on this earth…"

Tria watched helplessly, sobbing as Tricia cowered at her side, while Cera remained on her side from the shield blow.

Kyrie slashed him a few times on his side, making him yell and cry out in pain as his body bled from the wounds.

"Please, Kira…" he shivered as he spoke. "Please…have mercy…"

Kyrie paid no heed to his cries, as she then walked over and pointed her sword right between his eyes.

"This is for my mother…may her soul smile, now that justice has been done…"

She then twirled her sword, and prepared to plunge the blade into his skull…before a familiar figure suddenly zipped in on his rocket boots, and tackled her.

"Shorty!…" Cera spoke as she sat up, groggy.

Shorty fell and rolled away from the Seraphim, getting back to his feet as Kyrie stood and stared him down.

"You again…" she growled.

"What's wrong with you!" Shorty shouted through his mask. "You don't have anything better to do than to pick on defenseless creatures?"

"You know nothing about this matter, devil!" She retorted. "I suggest you leave, now!"

"Not a chance!" Shorty got into a fighting position with his blades.

"Very well…" Kyrie readied her left arm. "I shall rid the world of two sinners today!"

She then lashed her shield out at him as he rolled out of the way, making her bury it into the ground.

She quickly pulled it back as he then ran up and slashed at her with his right blade, making her block it with the shield, as he then came in with his left, and stabbed her in the stomach with it.

Kyrie shouted out in pain, but still struggled with him as the two warriors pressed against each other. She then suddenly brought up both feet, and placed them on his stomach, kicking him, and using him as a springboard at the same time.

Some of her blood flew through the air as she somersaulted and spread her wings, keeping herself afloat in the air as her stomach wound quickly healed.

Shorty then took off after her with his rocket boots, crossing his blades and lunging at her as he shot up into the air.

Kyrie quickly dodged this move, and grabbed him by his feet, pulling him down to her as she spun and hit him in the back with her shielded left arm.

The shield then began to spin, the round, sharp edge, cutting into his armor and flesh, making his own blood spill as he yelled out in pain and frustration.

He turned and slashed at her head with his left blade, making her duck as he then kicked her in the chest, and sent her flying with a powerful blast from the rocket, burning some of her feathers.

Kyrie grunted in pain as she flew down and hit the ground hard. She plucked off some of the burned feathers, as Shorty landed to face her down.

Kyrie suddenly lashed her shield out again as she rolled onto her right side, smacking Shorty in the stomach, as he couldn't get his blades out fast enough, sending him a few feet away from her.

He hit the ground and rolled onto his knee, as she quickly flew in and followed it up with a hard right hand to the chest, again sending him flying.

Shorty crashed through a few trees, before finally smashing into a rock wall nearby, his back embedded in the surface.

Kyrie flew in close once more, and punched him across the face…then in the stomach…then across the other side of his face…then twice in the stomach…then along his chin…then his stomach again…then the left side of his collarbone…then the right side of the same spot…then two more times across his face.

She continued to pummel him, smashing bits of his armor and bruising his thick Balaur skin as she did so. She then prepared to run him through with her sword, before he suddenly freed his arms, and shot the blades out on their cords.

The blades managed to impale Kyrie through both of her arms. She yelled out in pain as Shorty pulled himself out in a quick burst of strength, retracting the blades as he tackled her to the ground.

He then gave her a taste of her own medicine, as he used his right fist to pummel her repeatedly across the face, before impaling her through her left shoulder with the blade.

Kyrie grunted in pain once again, before she quickly brought up her right arm, and punched him right in an exposed part of his face.

Shorty pulled the blade out and fell back, as she then ran over, and swung for his stomach with the sword. He quickly reached out to catch the blade with his hands, feeling it catch in his palms.

He grunted and resisted as blood ran down from his palms, looking right into the eyes of his opponent as he growled, defiantly.

Kyrie gazed back at him, as she prepared to kick him off, and give him another slash…before something suddenly pierced her side.

Cera had run over to the scene of the fight, and jumped into Kyrie's side, impaling her with one of her horns.

Kyrie yelled out in pain, and kicked Shorty away from her. She then grabbed Cera by the neck and pulled her off, growling as she held up Cera, who growled back at her, angrily.

Shorty quickly tried to react, but before he could, Kyrie punched her across the head…very hard…so hard, that it made Cera's neck bend unnaturally for a moment, before she finally let go of her, and let her drop to the ground.

All seemed to be silent for a moment, as Shorty watched Cera fall limply to the grass…she wasn't moving.

"CERA!" Shorty yelled out, as he then threw himself on Kyrie, overpowering her as the two fell over with him on top.

He roared out in anger and sadness as he tried to stab her with both blades. Kyrie caught his arms however, and quickly kicked him off once more, rising and twirling her sword as she prepared to run him through once again.

But something else kept her from doing it…this time it was a shoulder cannon blast, courtesy of Talos, who quickly arrived on the scene.

Kyrie growled in pain as she then ran to the other creature, only to be met with more cannon blasts, which struck her on many parts of her body, including her face.

She finally fell back, and spread her wings…looking to Tria and Tricia tending to Cera, as Topsy watched helplessly from his position

"This isn't over…" She called to them. "Even your demon friends can't stop justice from being delivered in the end!"

With that, she took off, flying away from the scene.

Talos slowly walked over, and examined the unconscious Cera, as Shorty quickly ran to his side.

"How bad is it?" He asked her, as Tricia stifled her tears as best she could, Tria comforting her.

"Her life signs are very faint…" Talos spoke calmly as he looked over her. "She could die if she doesn't receive immediate attention…"

"Can we do anything for her?" Shorty asked him, almost desperately.

Talos thought for a second, then carefully scooped Cera up in his arms.

"Yes…I believe we can." He looked at Shorty. "Do you remember the prototype I showed you earlier? The Vega IV?"

Shorty nodded quickly.

"Well, I think if we dismantle that unit, we might find something that could help her…but we have to move fast."

Shorty nodded again, as Talos opened a portal to the ship, and carried her through it. It remained open as Shorty laid a hand gently on Tricia's head.

"We're not gonna let her die…I promise…"

Tricia sniffled, and nodded slowly, as Shorty rose, and followed his ally into the portal.


	14. Enter The Dragur

The voices ran through Cera's head, as she remained unconscious.

"Ok…bringing the power core up…slowly…"

"Shorty, watch the gigahertz level, we don't want to fry her…"

"I'm watching…yeah, we seem to be steady here…how are her vitals?"

"She's stabilizing…yes…I think we've got her. Bring her out."

"You got it!"

"Very gently…"

Cera felt herself coming out of whatever haze she had been put into. She opened her eyes very cautiously, to see an unfamiliar world around her, a world of wires, buttons, and flashing screens. She also saw tubes that were running with an odd, purple fluid, that seemed to all descend to her location.

"Cera…you awake?"

She looked up to see the familiar face of Shorty looking down at him. He was in his humanoid body once more, unarmored, so that he could get a good look at her.

"Hey…" Cera smiled weakly, wincing her eyes every few seconds. "What happened? Where am I? I feel so dizzy…"

Shorty chuckled a bit. "Well, you're gonna be that way for a while…and don't worry, we're still in the valley. You're just on board the Progenitor's ship."

Cera nodded just a little as she winced again, recognizing something.

"Hey…why can't I move my legs?"

"That's a precaution, Cera…" She heard the telepathic voice of Talos in her head now as he spoke, while fiddling with the console near where she lay. "In order to make sure our efforts to save you stay in place, we've had to temporarily immobilize your limbs."

Cera grunted a little bit and closed her eyes, her head rested on a cushion. "I feel so dead…"

"Well, you came very close to that…" Talos spoke again, matter-of-factly. "The enemy managed to sever a lot of your spinal column near your head in one blow…for a while, we weren't sure if you would live through this ordeal."

Cera couldn't quite understand this, but she did her best to follow. "How did you save me, then?"

Shorty smiled as he pointed to the tubes around her. "You can't see it too well right now, but these tubes are connected under and through openings on this table, and are hooked directly into your backbone…the fluid is this stuff that Talos introduced me to called Signium 12."

"You'll understand it all in due time, I assure you…" The armored body of the Progenitor now walked into the room as he addressed Cera. "Basically, Signium 12 is a serum that can be used to strengthen, or in this case repair the functions of the central nervous system. It is an essential part in the engineering of a Baluar, like Shorty."

Shorty nodded slowly as the Progenitor continued. "You must understand, I don't normally use these techniques on a being that has matured beyond the embryonic stage…doesn't agree with my principles. Once a lifeform has taken its first breath, it should stay just as it is, in my book."

He then walked over and looked at a few pictures the ship had taken of Kyrie. "However…given the circumstances, I feel compelled to make this one exception."

"Whatever you mean by all this…" Cera smiled a bit through closed eyes. "I'm glad you were able to bring me back to normal."

"Well…not quite normal, I'm afraid." The Progenitor added.

Cera's eyes quickly opened as she gave him and Shorty an uneasy look. "What do you mean by that?"

"The only way to get the Signium 12 to interact with your system…" The Progenitor explained as he walked next to a diagram on a screen. "Was to implant familiar objects into your body for it…namely the X92 Morpheon chip in the brain stem, and the Macrogenus Core around the heart…the two integral parts that Shorty has had in him since birth."

Cera almost stopped breathing at this revelation…she couldn't understand it all, but she clearly got the gist of it.

"You mean…I'm like him now?" She swallowed a bit, nervously.

"You…are a variation…" The Progenitor continued. "You are the first of a new project I opened especially for your case."

He then brought up a few diagrams on an overhead screen for her to look at.

"This is what I call a Dragur…Named after a mystical creature on my old world that was believed to be one of our kind that had returned from death. In this instance, the name seemed appropriate."

Cera gazed over the sleek, but fearsome humanoid form displayed on the monochromatic screen above her, as her eyes widened in wonder. It seemed to have all the basic parts of Shorty's Balaur form, but it was more slender, and also seemed to have unique weapon systems.

"So…I can turn into this thing now?" She blinked as she spoke.

"Not quite yet…" Talos answered now as he checked, and double-checked some more screens. "I'm making final adjustments, so your new form is neutralized for right now."

Cera nodded as she closed her eyes and sighed. "This is all way over my head…"

"I agree, Cera…" The Progenitor now looked down over her head, as Shorty backed away from him to give him space.

"I know that this all so foreign to you, much as it was for Shorty when he first came aboard."

He then rested a metal hand gently on her head as he looked down upon her.

"If you do not wish to use your new body in combat, we will not force you. If you so wish, we can keep your Dragur form permanently neutralized, and you will only need to use what's keeping you alive in your remaining years. You did not ask for a new body, and it would be wrong of us to make you use it."

He then flicked a switch, as the image on the screen above Cera changed to that of Kyrie flying.

"However…you must also not forget that your poor sister has been brainwashed by the Principality in some way, and she will not likely rest until all of your family has been killed. Shorty and Talos were able to fight her off last time, but even they cannot answer for any future encounters…that is why I created the Dragur, and presented you with this option."

He then switched off the screen and walked away from here. "The choice is yours…"

Cera then closed her eyes and sighed once more, her mind now slowly drifting away in deep thought…

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"What's it going to take for you to follow orders, Kyrie?"

Agnus eyed her sternly, as she was now in her old form, sitting prostrate in front of her guardian. Her body was still showing many scrapes, bruises, and some burn marks from her last battle.

"I couldn't help it sir…" She spoke softly. "Once I realized that he was my father, and remembered what he did to me…and my sisters…and my mother…I just couldn't leave it alone."

"So you recklessly pushed yourself into the affairs of lesser beings, driven by memories that no longer apply to what you have become, and in doing so, attracted the attention of the Progenitor and his hellspawn!" Agnus shouted, making Kyrie flinch. It was the first time she could recall him being so stern with her.

"You were meant to remain hidden on this planet! We were meant to take these enemies by surprise, as a team!" He admonished her further. "Is this how you return your gratitude to the Great Prince for the gift of your new life? This constant disobedience?"

Kyrie still felt the hunger for vengeance deep down…but now it was being slightly tempered by shame. She lowered her head and breathed heavily as it all began to weigh down on her.

"What must I do now, to redeem myself?"

"By doing as you're told this time, and staying hidden." Agnus softened his tone just a bit, now. "I have contacted The Great Prince, and he has sent Agares and Danjal down to earth to buy us some time. I would suggest that you use this time to rest…and remember your duty, and your place…"

"Yes sir…" Kyrie bowed her head obediently, and then walked off to find a well-shaded area.

"I have watched you develop into a great fighter since day one of your rebirth…" Agnus thought to himself as he watched her. "I do not wish to fight, or destroy you, but if you keep going rogue on me…you'll leave me little choice…rest well, young one."

He then walked off on his own path…

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Talos was now outside of the ship, administering to Topsy's wounds, with Tria and Tricia watching over him. Littlefoot also walked over with his other friends and watched him for a moment, before finally speaking up.

"How…how's Cera?" Littlefoot asked him, sounding very concerned.

Talos stayed focused on the grunting Topsy, spraying a gray adhesive gel into the parts of his legs that Kyrie had slashed, before answering while he worked.

"It's a complex situation…but you'll happy to know she's alive, and will be so for many years to come."

Littlefoot nodded and smiled in relief, before thinking again.

"But…if she's OK, then why hasn't she come out of the ship now?"

Talos thought about how to tell him this, as he continued to work, with Tria comforting Topsy as best she could.

"Well…I already told her family this, but Cera needs to make some adjustments right now…we had to do a lot of work on her."

"Work?" Littlefoot tilted his head. "What kind of work?"

"Well…" Talos thought some more before answering. "First, you shouldn't worry too much…her transition won't nearly be as hard as Shorty's was, plus, I-"

He was interrupted by the sound of a scream.

"What in blazes?"

He quickly looked over to suddenly see the form of a female duckbill being thrown across the field, landing hard on her side.

"Mom!" Ducky yelled as she ran over with Spike at her side. Their mother was alive, thankfully, only shaken. Talos quickly looked over to see the culprit, a familiar hulk with a bearded mask.

"Agares!" Talos shouted as he readied his weapons.

"Long time, no see, cretin!" Agares growled under his mask as he twirled his large axe. Just behind him was the sickening sight of Danjal, licking over his metal teeth as he grinned over to the lone warrior.

"How I've longed to make you bleed once more, spawn!" Danjal proclaimed, gleefully as he waved his mutilated hands around. "My claws cry out to tear into your flesh, as well as the bastard who broke my hand on Udlow!"

Talos wasted no more time, as he quickly saw Littlefoot and the others running off, protecting Topsy as he fired off his shoulder laser. Agares quickly deflected the blast with his axe, as Danjal leapt in and stuck his hand knives on his right hand into Talos' stomach.

Talos grunted in pain as his blood ran out onto the hand of the snarling abomination, who kept his internal grip on him as Agares walked over with his axe, preparing to decapitate Talos with it.

A flying blade that flew in from out of nowhere, and punctured him through his arm as he readied his axe thwarted his efforts, however. He yelled out a bit in pain as he looked to the cord attached to it, which in turn was attached to the form of Shorty in his fully armored form.

"Talos!" Shorty shouted. "Don't let them near any bystanders!" He then pulled on the cord as the blade came out of Agares' arm, making blood fly out as he yelled again in pain.

Talos nodded, and assumed a guardian's position in front of Cera's family, as Danjal yelled out manically and ran towards Shorty as Agares checked his wound.

"I've been waiting a long time to see you again, you piece of reptilian shit!" Danjal growled as he slashed frantically at Shorty. "Allow me to break one of your precious limbs now!"

Shorty said nothing as he grunted and clashed blades with the mad Stolian, ducking as Danjal slashed for his face, and slashed his right blade through his left leg, cutting a large gash in his calf.

Danjal yelped a bit in pain as this happened, stepping back as he now put most of the weight on his right leg. Shorty charged in for another strike, as Danjal saw his chance, and jumped behind Shorty, catching his neck with his finger blades.

Shorty grunted and fell onto his stomach as Danjal used his weight to bring him down. He giggled manically now as he tightened his grip on the exposed flesh of Shorty's neck, causing a little blood to seep out, as Shorty yelled out and choked a bit, his hands now on Danjal's wrists as he struggled.

"Yes!" Danjal grinned. "Cry for mercy! Scream! Scream for it, damn you!"

Shorty struggled, but didn't lose focus, as he kept a grip on the maniac's wrists. He began to build up strength in his back and his arms, as he took a deep breath, and let it explode.

He yelled out as he bucked his back, and threw with his arms, sending the surprised Danjal over his head and shoulders. He then let go of his right arm in mid-air, and grabbed his left arm with both hands as he came down, lifting up his left leg and catching him with it, as he came crashing down in front of him on his back.

Before Danjal could react, the now sitting Shorty dropped his left boot on his chest, and immediately activated the rocket booster in the back of it.

Danjal screamed in agony as the flames burned his exposed chest, charring him quite painfully as Shorty then let go and came up with his right fist, punching him in the face, and knocking him out cold.

Shorty panted a bit, and checked his neck, before something else charged in and gave him a hard shoulder block, sending him flying a few feet from the unconscious Danjal.

"He was always too much of a scrapper…" Agares kept his gaze on Shorty as he twirled his large axe, pointing the edge at Shorty. "Lets see you try to throw ME, sub-creature!"

"A sub-creature that's been giving you superiors a lot of hell, Agares…" Shorty softly responded, as he stood, letting the giant masked man come to him…

Agares exhaled deeply as he stepped forth, reared back with his axe, and swung for Shorty's mid-section. Shorty jumped up and sailed over Agares' back as he missed, and stuck both his blades in his thick-skinned back.

Agares bellowed in frustration as he began to throw his body around, while Shorty clung tenaciously to the embedded blades. He then detached the right blade, and began to punch Agares hard in the spine, making him yell out and grunt in pain with each blow.

He then re-attached the blade, and kicked him in the spine with both his feet, making him grunt yet again as he flew away backwards and flipped, landing on his feet as the giant turned to face him.

Shorty then yelled out as he ran in and attempted to pounce him. Agares was ready, though, as he stepped back, and caught the Balaur in his large right hand.

Shorty attempted to stab Agares several times with his restricted right arm, as the giant laughed a bit through his mask. "You really think your little toys can save you from me stomping you into a pile of stinking pus?"

He then turned and grunted with effort as he threw Shorty across the valley, making him smash into a wall of rocks behind a nearby waterfall, making the ground shake a bit as a few boulders fell from the wall, with the Balaur nowhere in sight.

Agares hmmm'd a bit as he kept his eyes on the area, before he suddenly heard Shorty's voice yelling out from somewhere. He then looked up to find a large rock flying right towards him from above.

Agares quickly slashed it in half with his axe, as both halves fell away from him. He then looked over to see a Wet, dented Shorty running towards him with his blades ready.

The giant turned and growled as he then ran towards the Balaur in return, ready to take him on once more…before something suddenly flew in from out of nowhere, and smashed him right in the mask, causing a small explosion.

Agares yelled out in surprise as he stumbled away from Shorty, leaving the Balaur to look to where the object came from, assuming it was Talos…

Instead, he saw a sleek, feminine body, clad head to toe in a smooth, flexible, dark blue armor, with gold outlines along the arms and legs, while a triangular black visor swept across the front of the helmet, which had a bit of a three horn's shape to it.

"Cera!" Shorty yelled out in surprise to the newly transformed Dragur. "What are you doing? You're not ready to fight yet!"

"It's OK, Shorty…" Talos' voice now appeared in his head. "I'm using a new interface with her form, where my telepathy is guiding her through the use of her new body. She seems to be learning from it quite quickly, thanks to some gentle manipulations to her brain."

Shorty just nodded to this, as Agares grunted in frustration, turning to face Cera.

"What the hell are you?" He growled as he rubbed at his slightly charred mask, as Cera remained silent under her helmet, stepping back into a fighting position as her right arm grasped the hilt of a sword sheathed along her back.

Agares then roared out in anger as he ran towards her, ready to swing his axe down at her. She suddenly sprang into the air with incredible strength as she sailed and flipped over him, holding out her right arm as a glowing object, which looked a lot like a shiruken, shot out of an opening on her wrist.

She promptly tossed the object, which struck Agares in the side as it blew up, making him turn and yell out in even more frustration as Cera landed gracefully with bent knees.

Agares checked the slight burns on his side as he then reared back, and grunted as he tossed his axe at her, the blade spinning towards her as she simply jumped to avoid it, zipping right towards the giant as she then withdrew a long slender sword from her back.

She slashed him quickly as she flew behind him, slicing him once across the left side of his thick neck, and again along his back, making blood spurt out as he yelled out in pain and dropped to his knee, panting a bit as he gripped his neck.

Shorty could only watch in awe as Cera landed with her back turned to the giant, flicking her sword a bit. Agares saw no choice but to run now, as he quickly retrieved his axe, and Danjal.

"How many more of these beasts can there be?" Agares thought to himself, as he found himself retreating once more from the Progenitor's forces.

Cera then turned to face Shorty, as she quickly transformed back to her original, quadruped form. She gasped a bit and shook her head, like something very strong had been inside of her.

"Oh wow…" she stumbled a bit. "That was…that was incredible." She smiled a bit, though the experience had obviously weakened her a bit.

"Cera!" Tricia yelled out as she ran over with Littlefoot and the others. "That was amazing. How did you do that?"

Everyone else began to ask similar questions, ganging up on the teen threehorn a bit as Shorty changed back to his original form and got between everyone.

"OK, OK everyone. I'll explain all of this a little later…right now, Cera needs a little time to rest."

Cera looked to him thankfully as she and Shorty walked off together. The experience of changing, and fighting was quite different…but it was one she was willing to do again, if needed, especially since…

The thoughts of Kira, who now called herself Kyrie, once more flooded her mind. She shivered a bit as she walked, knowing that all of this, the attack, her near-death experience, and her change, was probably going to lead to something…something she wasn't so sure she wanted to do…


End file.
